Forever Entwined
by Emo Fox
Summary: Sequel to Foolish Hearts Naruto and Sasuke's life seems to be piecing together quite nicely; that is until war breaks out on Konoha and Orochimaru pops back up. SasuNaru Mpreg
1. Chapter 1

"Forever Entwined"

'By: Emo Fox and Kareian'

It had been six months since the death of Orochimaru.

Six months and Sasuke had been training with Kakashi to stabilize his mind; gain control over his sharingan.

Ibiki was helping him keep his mind in check, keeping it from becoming un-glued and Sasuke seemed to be gaining control of himself quite well.

The Council had been duped by Orochimaru, they had apologized for being stricken under the man's control, and Naruto had been rather forgiving.

The Council had deemed Sasuke sane and allowed him to become a member of society once again; and once joining the ranks of the ninja elite the Uchiha had made his way easily to being Anbu Captain.

Life was going quite well.

Even better now that Sasuke's long scouting mission was finally over. The Uchiha had dismissed his team, climbing up the tower instead of using the stairway. He perched himself on the edge of the balcony, jumping down upon the floor of it as he silently made his way through the window.

His dark eyes glinted as they regarded the ninja in the room -- Naruto was sitting at his desk, shoulders tensed, saying something or other to the men in front of him.

Sasuke was like a cat stalking his prey.

His chakra was masked, his feet silent on the tiles, and he knew that the ninja wouldn't give him away.

Smirking the Uchiha came up behind his fox, mask skewed on his head as his dark obsidian eyes looked down to the blonde's spiky head. Casually the man lifted his hand, deft fingers ghosting along the back of Naruto's neck in a deliberate movement.

_I'm back..._

Naruto almost jumped at the feel of cool, calloused fingers on his neck.

He paused in his talking and refrained from turning.

_Sasuke…_

The last sixth months had felt like an eternity to the fox.

He had attended trial after trial with the council about Sasuke, and dealing with the aftermath of Orochimaru sneaking into the village and assuming a position in the high Council.

It had become apparent almost a month after Sasuke's wound had healed that the man needed to do something. Had to be active, and refused to sit still.

That was when Naruto had approached the council about letting Sasuke back into the ranks, which was how they came to the conclusion of Ibiki and Kakashi training Sasuke.

After that, Sasuke had seemed more at ease with Konoha and joining the Anbu ranks.

It hadn't been long before Sasuke had reached the top rank in the Anbu, the Anbu Captain.

Naruto's personal guard.

He smiled gently to himself as he gazed out at the Anbu that were in front of him. "You guys just finish your reports and submit them to Shikamaru tomorrow."

As the men left the room -- the door shutting silently behind them the Uchiha lazily wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders.

Sasuke's nose ran up the arch of the blonde's neck, lips whispering against the skin as he moved to nip at his earlobe. "Miss me?" He purred against the shell of the blonde's ear.

Naruto purred and arched his neck at the feel of those lips. His eyes fluttered closed at the strong feel of the corded arms wrapping around him. "Of course not." Naruto teased slightly. "Now I can't have my secret affair."

"Affair?" Sasuke bit along the arch of the blonde's neck, his eyes slipping shut as he dragged his firm teeth down the corded skin. "You can't cheat on me..." Sasuke continued to talk in that same silky tone; his dark eyes flashing as they flicked to Naruto's profile, "I own you." He said, biting where shoulder met neck for emphasis; a feral smirk on his lips.

It was good to be back…

Naruto moaned out at the feel of those sharp teeth against his skin. "Mnn..." He leaned back against his lover's upper chest, the chair blocking the rest of his body. "I guess I'll call them and let them know."

Sasuke's hands slipped through the robes, under the shirt and finding skin as his possessive fingers touched everything they could on the way down to the waistband of Naruto's pants. "Tell me their name." Sasuke growled against the blonde's neck before he trailed kisses up to his ear, "I'll tell them for you." The Uchiha murmured with a more sinister meaning.

Naruto lightly arched his hips as the hand slowly crept down to his pants. He let out something that was a combination between a hiss and a moan. He held up his right hand so Sasuke could see it, "Righty." Naruto answered in a strangled voice, as he let his hand drop down to the arm rest. "And lefty." He answered as he lifted his left hand so Sasuke could see it.

Sasuke's laugh was a mixture of a purr and a chuckle as he gazed at the blonde's flushed expression. In a rush of movement the Uchiha was parted from the blonde -- spinning the chair around and slamming it back against the desk.

He knelt on the ground before the Hokage-sama, his dark eyes cat-like as they regarded the startled blue orbs. Sasuke's hands found the buckle of Naruto's pants, slowly pulling the belt away -- moving to the buttons a predatory smirk on his lips.

Sasuke wiggled the fabric down just enough, pulling the blonde's already hard shaft, eyeing him a moment before he let his eyes slip shut -- his mouth moving to engulf the blonde's quivering need.

Naruto's hands tightened on the arm rests, his head tilting back, a deep moan escaping him. His eyes fluttered open and he stared down at his lover, his mouth engulfed around his length. His legs spread further apart, giving Sasuke more room to settle between his legs. "Gods...Sasu…" He breathed out, his hands leaving the chair, and moving to thread themselves through the dark hair.

Sasuke's hands rested on the blonde's hips, thumbs brushing over the hip bones as he continued to suck at the heated organ. Sasuke's dark eyes open; a lust buried in them as he gazed up at his flushed blonde. He moaned running his tongue along the underside of Naruto's need before he sucked playfully at the tip.

Naruto bit his lips, and drew in a shuttering breath. He tried not to wiggle or thrust up into his lover, but it felt too good. The moan seemed to travel from Sasuke and into Naruto, making his aching need harder. "Mnn." Naruto tightened his fingers in the dark hair, trying to encourage him to move, to suck, to do something more.

Sasuke chuckled low in the back of his throat, giving Naruto's length one deliberate lick before he parted from the throbbing member.

Naruto's hands were fisted in his hair, Naruto's moans enticing him; as was seeing his lover so hot and bothered panting for him.

He looked so good…

Sasuke's hand moved to grab at Naruto's shaft, just holding it; knowing he was driving the blonde mad. "So responsive." He purred; though he knew entirely why, they hadn't been able to do much of anything to each other in the past months due to the constant trials -- or due to Sasuke's 24/7 training.

Sasuke positioned himself closer to the blonde, his lips nearly touching the tip of him, "What do you want Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked in that silken purr.

Naruto groaned at the feel of Sasuke fisting him, his body flushed from the constant contact.

God, he needed so much more...

Naruto tried to lean up to those lips, but Sasuke just pulled back from him. "Take me." He breathed out, his eyes opening finding the dark lust filled orbs, "Fuck me."

Sasuke smirked down to the blonde, trying to curb his own need and not just rip the clothes off Naruto's back and slam him over his desk.

Control.

Sasuke needed to stay in control.

Sasuke lifted his free hand; tugging off the Hokage robes and letting them fall to the ground; the hand holding Naruto moving up and down at a slow pace as he worked on stripping him.

He tugged the blonde's shirt off his back -- with help from the eager man; which made Sasuke's want for him grow that much more. Sasuke let the blonde's shaft go as he all but ripped the pants and underwear off the blonde, leaving him naked in his chair.

Gods…

Naruto looked so beautiful.

His skin flawless, his eyes begging, his lips parted and that lovely flushed darkening his tanned skin. With grace the Uchiha undressed himself, letting the mask, armor, the clothing fall from him in a silent whisper to the floor.

Sasuke was teasing Naruto.

Naruto smirked as Sasuke slowly stripped in front of him. He refrained from reaching out, and running his hands across the pale skin from fingering the pink scar still fading on his hip.

Sasuke didn't make contact with him; letting Naruto look at his naked body before he went right back up to the fox. His hands were on the sides of the chair, his face inches from Naruto's own, his dark eyes dancing with a pure feral lust. "Turn around." Sasuke breathed, close enough to kiss but he didn't allow the blonde to meet his lips.

"In the chair?" The fox teased slightly, as he shifted in the chair, one arm stretching above his head the other running down his body. "Switch places?" Naruto moved his leg so his calm rubbed against Sasuke's thigh. "You sit in the chair, me on top?" He breathed out as his own hand reached out to Sasuke's length, lightly stroking it.

Mm…

Sasuke tried not to focus on the fingers gently ghosting along his length.

He wanted to say something, wanted to snap at Naruto for trying to tell him what they should do, but at the moment the Uchiha didn't care.

He just wanted to be in Naruto; right now he didn't care how that got done.

Sasuke wordlessly lifted Naruto's larger frame in his arms, feeling the kiss of skin against his own and it caused him to groan in want. He sat down in the chair, shifting Naruto's weight so the blonde could easily straddle him. His hands were on Naruto's hips, positioning him for his ass was just over his aching need. Sasuke's hands gently kneaded the flesh of his hips, his lips and teeth finding home across Naruto's taut chest.

Naruto moaned, letting his head fall back as Sasuke's lips and teeth nipped along his chest. The hands along his hips encouraged him to move, to sit on his lover's length.

The feel of their warm skin finally meeting and the hot lips was almost overwhelming. Sasuke had been gone for almost three weeks on the scouting mission, going all the way up into the rock county. Shifting his legs he slowly started to take his lover into himself. He groaned loudly at the feel of the hard heat moving up into him, pushing passed that ring of muscle. "Sasuuu.."

"Ah..." Sasuke's head tipped back on the chair, his dark eyes half-lidded as he gazed up at the ceiling as Naruto started coming down on his member. "Gods…" Sasuke purred as Naruto took all of him inside that tight warmth, his hands nearly bruising on the blonde's hips as he started to rock the fox. The movement caused another groan to vibrate in Sasuke's throat -- he had missed this.

Naruto's pink tongue slipped out between his lips, moistening his dry lips. His arm looped around Sasuke's neck, his fingers gripping the skin on his pale back. He felt Sasuke start to roll his hips, and the fox complied, moaning as he felt the organ move further and deeper into him. His other hand came up to cup Sasuke's neck, his fingers feeling the quick pulse in his neck.

Sasuke tilted his head as he felt the blonde's fingers over his neck, his heated black eyes focused on his lover as the kitsune moved with his rocking hips. "Mm." Sasuke moaned as he felt Naruto all around him -- rocking his hips a little faster, forcing the Hokage-sama to nearly bounce in his lap as he tried to create a rougher friction.

Naruto breathed heavily as he attempted to shift his legs, his thigh muscles starting to burn ever so slightly at having to support his own weight. The fox bounced up and down against Sasuke's length, his own erection rubbing between their bodies. "Gods...Sasu..." Naruto panted.

Sasuke let his body be taken by the intense feeling; he hadn't felt Naruto in weeks and it had been driving him crazy.

He craved this…

Sasuke's lips and teeth found home across Naruto's collar and shoulder, biting up his neck as he groaned against his flesh.

He needed more.

"Naruto." Sasuke nearly growled, forcing the blonde to bounce faster, ramming him as he forced the fox to grind back against him.

It felt so good...

He was getting so close…

The ache in Naruto's legs left him as he moved faster, up and down on Sasuke's length. He moaned deeply, his fingers moving to the back of Sasuke's neck, keeping the man's mouth against his upper body. The hot friction between their bodies trapped his erection, making the organ harder and tighter.

He almost whimpered at the feel.

Naruto needed the release, he needed to feel it.

"Sasuke…nnn…."

Sasuke panted, the sweat beaded on his alabaster skin, his cheeks flushed as he tried to keep up the rigorous pace. Sasuke moaned and growled into Naruto's neck, nipping angry purple marks as he felt his muscles start to tighten. His hands on Naruto's hips became firmer, forcing the blonde down in one swift movement as Sasuke felt his orgasm rip through his body. He yelled Naruto's name feeling his hot seed explode deep inside of his lover as he forced Naruto still as his length spasmed.

The last thrust penetrated the fox deeply, nudging that bundle of nerves that sent a burst of pleasure up his spine making him see spots. He could feel the hot cum smearing his insides, and his muscles clenched around Sasuke's length, as his own orgasm hit. He tried to moved into Sasuke, as the pearly white liquid coated his and Sasuke's stomachs and chests. He moaned out Sasuke's name, as his head fell forward to Sasuke's shoulder, his muscles going lax, his arms holding Sasuke close to him.

Sasuke tried to catch his breath, holding the blonde close as he listened to his fluttering heart in his ears.

Mm…

Sasuke had a lazy smirk on his lips as he tilted his head, kissing the blonde's sweaty temple as his hands lazily trailed along the kitsune's spine. "I missed you." Sasuke purred easily, his dark black eyes half-lidded as he regarded his lover.

Naruto was still trying to catch his own breath as he heard Sasuke's low words. He moaned gently at the feel of those strong fingers moving up and down his back. "…missed you too." He breathed out, his lips pressing against the pale neck in front of him. He didn't move in Sasuke's lap, feared that if he did, he slip backwards off of his lover and onto the floor.

Sasuke sat there a long moment before his legs started to feel numb from Naruto's dead weight. The Uchiha mustered up his strength, picking up the blonde in a quick fashion, holding him bridal style before he plopped him back down on the wooden seat -- smirking to the look of alarm the fox had as his sore bottom hit the chair. Lazily the Uchiha gathered pieces of their clothing, frowning a bit to himself as he looked around for something to clean the mess off themselves.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably on the chair, his hands holding the edges, trying to alleviate the pain. He watched as Sasuke picked up their clothes and he leaned to the side to open a drawer where the tissues were. "I think the tower heard you." He teased gently, his eyes somewhat playful, but more sated than anything.

"Heard me?" Sasuke smirked slightly, tossing the used tissues in the trash and handing some clean ones to his lover. Sasuke had tugged on his pants, but hadn't bothered with anything else. His weaponry and armor were laid on Naruto's desk.

The Uchiha had draped Naruto's clothes over the back of the chair, his dark eyes looking down to his sated fox. "I think you drowned me out." Sasuke murmured before he placed a simple kiss on the kit's temple.

Naruto chuckled lightly as he reached for the tissues on his stomach, "I can't help it." He reached up to his lover, slipping his hand through the dark bangs, brushing them back before he pulled Sasuke over his chair just a bit more so his lips could meet Sasuke's. "I love you."

Sasuke's hand lifted the blonde's chin, keeping him there a moment as he pressed their lips together a bit more firmly before he parted. "I love you too." He said easily, slipping away from the fox, one hand lazily in his pocket the other running through his matted hair.

"Now get dressed, I want to go home." Sasuke said in an edged voice though a playful glint was in his black eyes.

Naruto smirked and looked back down to his cum smeared stomach, and wiped the mess away. Tossing the soiled tissues away and reached up and behind him to the top of his chair for his clothes. Dragging his khaki colored pants down, the fox somehow managed to wiggle his way into them without getting out of the chair. He easily fastened them before he finally pushed himself up and out of the chair. He grabbed his orange Hokage robe and easily slipped it on over his bare chest. "Alright, we're going home."

Sasuke and Naruto walked out of the tower, down the steps, Sasuke enjoying the blushing faces of the ninja they passed as they bowed their heads in respect to the Hokage-sama and Anbu captain.

Both were shirtless; though Naruto had his robes, but anyone who hadn't heard, definitely knew what had happened in the sacred tower.

The Uchiha had Naruto's hand in his, the blonde close to his side in usual possessive manner as they made their way down to the main street of Konoha intent on going home.

Naruto was long used to the stares so they didn't bother him. Their laced fingers were a gentle reminder that he belonged to Sasuke. The small smile that had made its way to the fox's face after their love making had yet to disappear.

As they walked back to their home, Naruto's house, the fox moved closer to Sasuke, wrapping his arms around the man's middle, his lips pressing to the junction of Sasuke's jaw and neck. "Our bed missed you."

Sasuke allowed himself to be pulled into the blonde as they made their way up the porch steps and into the home. They lazily walked down the hall to their room, Sasuke climbing up on the bed and laying out on his spine. He let out a long sigh to the feel of their comfortable mattress under his spine.

...he had been sleeping on the ground over the past weeks; he had missed the soft bed and the cold sheets.

Sasuke closed his eyes, content as he laid there, feeling Naruto's weight on the bed. "...that mission was too long." The Uchiha grumbled after a moment, "Nothing to do."

He hated scouting trips.

Sasuke was always one for more direct action; but those missions were hard to come by since the state of the world seemed to be one more of peace now.

Naruto chuckled slightly as he moved on to the bed, once more straddling Sasuke's waist. "I know." He purred out, his hands slowly moving up Sasuke's body, trying to easy the muscles. "You know I'd let you have a better mission if there was one." He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Sasuke's.

Sasuke's hands moved up to Naruto's hips, ghosting over them and along his sides as he gazed up at his lover. He moaned softly in the back of his throat at the hands running up his own body -- at the soft lips against his own. "I know." Sasuke knew the blonde didn't keep things from him; Sasuke was the top Anbu, his squad was the first on any high rank mission.

There just…wasn't any action at this point in time, it was boring.

Naruto smiled almost sadly, he knew Sasuke needed some action, he needed something to do. "Awh." Naruto teased gently, his hands running back down Sasuke's body before they shifted at his hips and started up his sides. "My baby's restless." He chuckled, his lips moving down to Sasuke's neck, trying to further relax him.

Sasuke smirked slightly to Naruto's silly nickname, his head tilting back as Naruto ran his lips across the arch of it. His muscles were slack, his body relaxed under the blonde's tender ministrations; it was clear the Uchiha was enjoying this. "A little." Sasuke admitted, his dark eyes turning to regard his kitsune in a lethargic manner.

Naruto moved his arms so he could hold his weight, looping them under Sasuke's shoulders resting them on the bed. Pulling his lips away from the sensitive neck, he smiled gently down to the soft look only reserved for him.

"I'm sorry." He apologized; It was his fault, he'd been able to establish peace between Konoha and other ninja villages, and with Orochimaru dead...

Well there really wasn't many threats out there.

"You'd know I'd cause trouble for you if I could."

"I could cause trouble." Sasuke murmured, though Naruto knew about his past all too well. Sasuke's arms were looped around the blonde, keeping his weight against him as his eyes slid shut. He inhaled the blonde's scent absently, his lips brushing over his high cheekbone.

Naruto smiled gently and let his eyes close as well. "You cause enough trouble here." He shifted his legs slightly on top of Sasuke, moving to lay out on top of the man, his legs tangling with Sasuke's. "You could always work out in the garden, or you could fix the dining table we broke before you left." He couldn't help but smirk at the memory.

"House work." Sasuke groaned, shifting under the blonde's weight, letting himself sprawl out a little more comfortably as Naruto's legs tangled with his. "I'd rather be scouting." The Uchiha said in a serious tone.

Naruto chuckled again at the words, he knew Sasuke was serious. "I'm just saying." he joked, the laugh still in his voice. "We do need a new table."

"Mm." Sasuke murmured, smirking a little as his fingers ran through the blonde's hair. "We can go out and get one." Sasuke didn't feel like fixing it, it was old anyway, a reason why it broke in the first place.

Naruto nodded against Sasuke's shoulder, "Maybe if you hadn't thrown me on it." He joked, although he knew he had instigated it, by murmuring heated words into the Uchiha's ear. "But that was the last room we needed to have sex in." He added as an after thought.

Sasuke smirked to the memory, "Mhm." The Uchiha agreed easily, his nails running along the blonde's scalp. "We'll get a stronger table this time." Sasuke said in a purring tone; easily hinting at where his mind was at the moment.

"Solid wood." He smirked adding on to Sasuke's wandering mind. "Maybe we could add on to the house, make a fun room." Naruto added, picking his head up to gaze at the Uchiha his eyes playful.

Fun room..?

Sasuke's mind was definitely planted firmly in the gutter as his lusty black eyes opened to gaze at Naruto's playful blue orbs. "We should do that." Sasuke murmured in his usual silken tone.

Naruto smirked down at his lover, "There, you have a project." He leaned down and caught the pale lips in a chaste kiss.

Sasuke sucked at Naruto's lower lip before the blonde pulled away, twisting their bodies so Naruto was laying beneath him -- the Uchiha sprawled on top. Sasuke's chin rested on the blonde's collar, his bright black eyes gazing up to the kitsune as he relaxed over him.

"A mission?" Sasuke joked; not minding that work, it would give him something to do while Naruto was at the tower -- and the end result of the room itself would be well worth waiting for.

"S-Ranked." Naruto answered back, moving his arms to rest above his head. "I don't think Konoha's had this important of a mission before." He shifted their legs slightly, getting more comfortable. "It all rests on you."

Sasuke kept his arrogant smirk, his head lifting so his lips planted on Naruto's throat. "Build a room." Sasuke murmured against the skin, kissing down the arch of his neck. "Fuck the Hokage-sama senseless in it." Sasuke's hands moved up along the blonde's sides as his teeth grazed over his collar. "I accept."

Naruto chuckled and moved with the wandering hands, his eyes fluttering shut as he arched his neck, "Good."

Sasuke lazily placed a few more wet kisses on the blonde's throat before he eased himself back down again. His ear was planted on Naruto's stout chest -- listening to the strong heartbeat within. His dark eyes closed as he lay across the man. "I'll start tomorrow." He murmured in a low tone, settling his body down.

Naruto moved his arms down Sasuke's body, resting on his pale back. "Sounds good." He murmured, his fingers lightly running across his shoulder blades.

--

A/N:

I know the people that have been complaining said they won't read a sequel but I don't care, I'm going to respond to what they said.

First off, the whole fact that Naruto doesn't go Kyuubi on the tower was explained with Iruka. What would be the point?

Sasuke is a traitor, a convicted criminal and it was feared that he might lure Orochimaru back to the village.

What would be gained if Naruto went crazy, killed the elders, attacked the village and then ran away with a mentally unstable Sasuke? Naruto worked hard to gain Hokage, he loves the village and all the people, he has friends there.

He tried his best for Sasuke.

One man or the entire village?

What should he choose?

As for the previous story and Sasuke's "first time" it was referring to the consensual coupling of him and Naruto – and actually Sasuke had never taken anyone before, therefore a first for him, and he had never been consensually taken.

Yes, I did explain that in the story but if you skipped the lemon of Naruto and Sasuke you would have missed it.

Also, as for Orochimaru being dead, he's not dead.

The characters think he is dead, a reason why he's referred to as dead. Naruto knows the Orochimaru he killed was probably a puppet, but he doesn't want to rouse Sasuke's paranoia and as long as Orochimaru doesn't surface or hasn't yet, what's the point in getting Sasuke all riled up again?

No, he's not dead. There, okay?

Okay, my rant is over.

As for everyone who read this sequel I thank you for coming along for the ride and please leave a review if you want to see what happens next. I assure you this happy little fluff won't last long so get ready.

Someone complained the last story was too "dark and depressing" when I clearly stated it was full of angst and dark themes. This one is the same, if you have a weak stomach please turn back now and leave the flames at the door.

Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Two'

It had been a few days since Sasuke had came back from the mission. Naruto was mainly in his office the past few days and the Uchiha had started his project of making a new add-on to the house.

Sasuke had just taken a shower, his blue-black hair still damp; as he fished in the dresser for some sort of attire. Currently the Uchiha was getting dressed for the party he was being forced to attend to.

It was later in the afternoon; around four-ish.

He went with a pair of white shorts and a simple black shirt not thinking it was such a formal occasion.

...did he have formal clothes?

Should he change?

God this was so stupid.

Maybe he should just wear his Anbu uniform or something.

Bah.

Where was Naruto?

Sasuke was clearly annoyed, stalking down the hall and looking for something to preoccupy himself with before the blonde came home to tell him the preparations were all in order and they were needed at the tower.

Naruto rubbed his unruly spikes as he walked into the home, "I'm home!" He called out, knowing Sasuke would be around somewhere.

Moving down the hall way, he pushed the bedroom door open and caught sight of Sasuke rummaging through the drawers. He smirked knowing what was going through Sasuke's mind, "It's informal, you can wear whatever." He slipped out of his Hokage robes and easily hung it up, before he reached for zipper of his jacket. "Our only blessing about tonight is Kiba's going to have lots of booze." He smiled gently as he tossed the jacket into the hamper.

Naruto moved over to his own dresser and reached into for the tight short sleeve body shirt and his black cut off shorts that would hang low on his hips. "I'm going to take a quick shower, then we can go, get drunk, then come home and screw like bunnies!" He moved over to his lover and wrapped his arms around his waist as he spoke, "So don't get too trashed." He teased as he placed a quick kiss on the back of Sasuke's neck before he pulled away, walking towards the bathroom to take a quick shower.

--

Sasuke had lounged out on the bed as he waited for the Hokage to get out of the shower. He occupied himself by looking out the window and attempting not to think about this stupid party -- but rather the after party he and Naruto would have together when this whole thing was over.

The Uchiha heard the bathroom door click open and it drew his attention -- watching as Naruto stepped out of the steamy room.

His dark eyes drank in the fox's figure; the tight black shirt and the midriff that was showing -- he could see the marking of the seal on his stomach before his eyes dipped to the low riding shorts.

Sasuke loved Naruto in those tight tops...

Sasuke slowly got off the bed -- almost stalking up to the blonde, his hands on the blonde's hips as he all but slammed the Hokage against the wall. He kissed roughly up his neck, his dark eyes flicking to his profile as his teeth nipped hungrily at the soap-scented skin. "You look good Hokage-sama." Sasuke purred, keeping a firm hold on his lover as he slipped his leg between Naruto's; grinding against the tender area between his thighs.

Naruto felt a small rush of air leave him as he hit the wall.

…_Sasuke_.

Naruto shifted his legs as his were spread a bit further apart, and Sasuke rolled his hips against Naruto's. He let out a long sigh and let his head fall to the side, "Sasu..." He moaned out as his neck was being bit.

Sasuke's hands felt up under the tight fabric, touching the still damp skin, his lips kissing along his jaw before he firmly planted them against Naruto's own. His tongue delved inside the blonde's mouth; tasting him with vigor, fueled by the kitsune's moans.

Naruto's chest arched into the strong fingers roaming over his body; His own hands came up and cupping Sasuke's jaw and neck as he tilted his head, forcing his own tongue further into Sasuke's mouth. One leg came up to wrap around Sasuke's hip, pulling him closer to his body.

Sasuke's hands moved down the blonde's body, cupping his ass to elevate the kitsune as he kept him crushed against the wall. He groaned into the kiss, nipping his lips before he delved his tongue back into the blonde's mouth.

He wanted this to continue…

Sasuke didn't want to go to the stupid party.

The fox didn't think he could stop this.

Damn it to hell!

He moaned against Sasuke's lips as he moved to arch his hips against Sasuke's. As his body was pushed up, the fox easily wrapped both of his legs around Sasuke's waist, holding himself up off the floor.

They could be late.

Sasuke held Naruto easily, holding the kitsune to him as he blindly walked back to the bed. He parted from the kiss, biting down his neck as he felt the bed before him with his knees -- dropping the fox on the mattress before he climbed on top of him.

Sasuke perched over his lover, knees parting his legs as his deft fingers slipped Naruto's tight top off of him and tossed it uselessly to the floor. "I want you." Sasuke said against the blonde's collar, descending lower on the kitsune's body, his tongue kneading a perk nipple as his hands delved into the blonde's pants -- touching his stiffening self.

"Ahh...Nnnn." The fox threw his head back, his neck arching as his nipple and shaft were both attacked. He spread his legs wider, trying to urge Sasuke closer to him, "Sas'ke."

Sasuke shifted, forcing the blonde further on the bed; his hands leaving the moaning blonde and gripping at his remaining pieces of clothing. He tugged them down his body, the Uchiha then lifted himself up -- perched as he tossed his own t-shirt to the floor before he wiggled out of his shorts.

Sasuke observed his fox, looking to his lust-filled blue eyes and the tenderly flushed cheeks.

…cute.

Sasuke smirked, kissing along his chest as he positioned himself at Naruto's opening, hands on either side of the blonde's head -- trapping him.

Naruto gazed up at Sasuke's dark, lust filled eyes, his hand coming up to rest against his lover's cheek. He panted slightly with anticipation and from his own heightened pleasure; leaning up he caught Sasuke's lips with his own.

Sasuke moaned eagerly into the kiss, starting to push himself through Naruto's tight ring of muscle in that same moment.

Mm…

Sasuke growled in the back of his throat from the intense feeling of heated skin on heated skin as well as the tight sheath wrapped around his aching want. He battled vigorously with Naruto's tongue; pulling himself out and slamming right back into the blonde with a graceful movements of his hips.

It felt good…

_Way_ too good.

Naruto arched his hips into Sasuke's, his arms coming up to wrap themselves around Sasuke's shoulders. He moaned deeply in his lover's mouth as Sasuke's hips drove him in and out of the fox. He moved his legs high up around Sasuke's body, his knees brushing just under his lovers shoulder blades, rubbing at the skin at his side.

Sasuke parted from the blonde as he felt the kit's knees across his sides. He smirked slightly; his cheeks flushed his breathing uneven as his hands gripped at the back of Naruto's thighs; pushing them back and causing him to further spread. Sasuke gazed down at his quivering and moaning lover, the sight sent a tremble down his spine and his need for control was biting in his brain.

He wanted more…

Sasuke took himself all the way out of the blonde before he forced himself back in deeper -- he started a pace this way; a groan ripping from his throat at the feeling.

Naruto let out a cry at the deep penetration, but he couldn't move with it, his legs trapped against the bed on either side of his head. "Ahh!..Ah!!..Ah!" He thrashed his head to the side, his hands reaching up to Sasuke's back, his nails digging into the man's pale skin.

Sasuke bit roughly at the flesh of the blonde's neck; wanting to make him scream louder. Sasuke shifted his hips -- piercing deep inside of the blonde as he tried to keep his own orgasm in check though he knew he was getting close. His breathing was ragged, moans and purrs mixing as he thrusted into the fox impatiently looking for that tender spot inside of his lover. Sasuke's hands gripped hard at Naruto's thighs as he felt the nails down his back, sending him into frenzy as he fucked his lover.

There…

Finally found it.

Sasuke growled into the flesh of Naruto's collar as he slammed into that bundle of nerves -- feeling himself close.

"Ahh…_ahh_!" Naruto threw his head back and tried to thrust back against Sasuke as he was hit over and over, pleasure overriding his body. He gripped harder at the flesh, if his nails had been any sharper, they would have cut into Sasuke's skin by now. He moaned loudly in his lover's ear, his upper canine teeth catching his lower lip and biting on it hard. "Gods!" He moaned as thrust upon thrust gave him more pleasure.

Sasuke couldn't take it.

His hands left the blonde's legs -- planting firmly at the sides of the blonde's head, nails digging into the sheets as he forced himself to keep up the frantic pace.

Almost…

Al..mos..t..

Gah!

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled; the name dying into a moaning purr as his body trembled above the blonde; feeling himself spasm as he shot his seed deep inside of his lover.

Naruto let out a horse yell as Sasuke all but threw himself into the blonde. His muscles tensed, the neck muscles seen through the skin as he felt himself starting to cum. His own release smearing between their bodies; his hands curled into fists, his fingers biting into his own palms, before he fell back against bed, breathing heavily, the sweat starting to cool on his skins.

Sasuke took a moment over the blonde -- letting his breathing even and his heart rate slow before he pulled himself out of the fox. Limply he fell next to the kitsune, rolling onto his spine, his eyes closed as he faced up at the ceiling. His body relaxed as it was sprawled out; displayed in all its naked glory as he tried to catch his thoughts.

"...do we have to go?" Sasuke groaned in a lethargic tone.

The party could start without them.

…without the Hokage-sama and the Anbu captain.

...they wouldn't be missed, not too much anyway.

Naruto slowly stretched his legs out on the bed, feeling the small ache pull. He closed his eyes, and slowly rubbed his face. He felt so relaxed and sated, he didn't want to go either, but they needed to be there. "Yes, we have to go." He murmured as he slowly moved to push himself up.

Sasuke felt the weight on the bed shift, he slowly opened his dark black eyes, looking at Naruto's back as the kitsune moved to clean himself up and get dressed again. Sasuke frowned, forcing himself up and off the bed to do the same.

Kiba better be bringing some damn good liquor.

Naruto shuffled back to the bathroom, his clothes in his hands. He smiled back over his shoulder, "I know it sucks." Naruto started as he grabbed the tissues and easily cleaned himself up, before he tossed it from the bathroom to the bed where Sasuke was relaxing. "Get up." He went back to cleaning himself up, before he slipped the black cut offs back on, and the tight orange shirt once more, leaving a patch of skin visible along his torso. As he meandered back into the bedroom, knelt over Sasuke's body and pressed his lips against his lover's, "And when we get back, we can fuck all over again."

Sasuke firmly pressed his lips back to the blonde's before he forced himself out of bed. Cleaning himself off he picked up the discarded clothing; dressing himself as a scowl beset his once sated expression. He tucked his hands in his pockets, his hair falling in a 'sexy bed-head' manner as he gazed from the kitsune to the door. "...let's get this over with." Sasuke said easily, opening the door of their room and walking down the hall intent on finding his shoes.

Naruto chuckled to himself as they moved through the house to put their sandals on and go to the tower. "You just got laid and you're gonna get laid again." He teased as he slipped his own flip flops on and started out the door, "Don't be so upset."

Sasuke rolled his eyes to Naruto's comment, but he couldn't help the soft smirk that graced his features as the blonde started ahead of him. He gazed at his back, watching as the sun started to set -- orange, pink, and subdued yellow dusting over the expanse of landscape before them.

…the image almost looked surreal.

Sasuke's pace remained slow, keeping his distance from his fox a moment as he just watched him, his dark eyes trailing up his spine to his messy yellow spiked head. Then the fox turned and smiled; the glow on his skin making him look like a dream, that beautiful smile on his lips and those bright blue eyes looking right at him.

Sasuke shrugged himself out of his own stupor, catching the distance between them and reaching for Naruto's hand as usual. Together they walked towards the tower, to this horrible party, but Sasuke couldn't trudge up his original bad mood.

...he was just too happy.

His life was good.

The fox leaned over to Sasuke and easily pressed his lips to his lovers cheek, "There we go." He teased as they continued to walk to the tower.

It wasn't that long of a walk, but it was comfortable, and silent.

As they walked up the steps, Naruto squeezed his lover's hand as he slid the door open, the music had been echoing throughout the hallway, the heavy base line almost rattling the pictures on the walls. As Naruto maneuvered down the hall, Sasuke in tow, the fox pushed the door to the larger training room open.

Already a large group of their friends were there enjoying the party.

Looking back at his lover the fox gave him a gentle smile, "C'mon, time to crash the party."

Sasuke frowned slightly as the sound of music hit his ears as well as the blending chorus of voices.

Their friends were there, as well as some new Anbu and Sasuke's own personal team. Everyone was scattered around the room, enjoying drinks and snacks as they mingled.

Sasuke was tense; he wanted to leave.

"Finally decided to show up?" Shikamaru drawled, his brown eyes following the blonde as he came further into the room before they flicked to the irritated Uchiha.

Naruto chuckled and reached back to scratch his head, "We got distracted." He laughed slightly.

He knew everyone was well aware of what that would mean.

"It's hard to shower with him around." Naruto teased slightly reaching to grab the two cups of sake, and handing one to his lover.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, clearly not needing to know that added little detail. He just shook his head, looking off towards the group hoping someone might run up and save him from this awkward moment.

Sasuke took the cup from his lover, sipping the liquid and hoping it would start to let him unwind.

…maybe he could go make himself invisible somewhere.

Sasuke started walking away from Shikamaru and Naruto when a voice hit his ears, "Uchiha-san! I had...a...question!"

…fuck.

It was one of his team members; a younger man, full of questions and for some reason he had a definite liking to Sasuke.

Sasuke tried to ignore him, but the younger brunette followed him into the fray of people.

Shikamaru watched Sasuke's back a moment before he cleared his throat, "Six months." He started, "Hopefully it lasts."

Naruto looked back at Shikamaru and raised an eyebrow before he sighed, "He's fine." He gazed back at Sasuke's back, catching sight of the Uchiha fan, and the younger man trailing next to Sasuke. He smirked, "Although, if that little Anbu kid wants to live, he might want to back off." he teased.

Shikamaru frowned slightly, "You can't go killing you're own Anbu." The brunette murmured though he did think the kid was stepping on thin ice.

Sasuke had taken a seat at a far table; on his third glass of sake and staring none-too-intently at anything but his blabbering underling.

Sakura caught sight of Shikamaru and Naruto and made her way over, waving to the blonde to catch his attention. "I can't believe the village has been so peaceful! What's a medic nin to do?" She winked playfully, clearly intoxicated, grinning like an idiot as she surveyed her friends.

Naruto laughed at the girl and took her drink from her hands, "You could always find yourself a guy." He teased slightly as he finished off her drink, and made a small face, the strong alcohol burning its way down to his stomach. Setting the glass down he grabbed another, "Or a girl." Naruto teased poking her forehead with his index figure, "I know Ino was looking for someone."

"Ino?" She blinked, "Boy? Girl?" Sakura ended up laughing, pushing weakly against the blonde's chest, "You're weird." Sakura righted herself a moment, catching sight of someone in the haze of people and wandering away from Shikamaru and Naruto as if she hadn't been there in the first place.

The lazy ninja rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, everyone was acting like fools.

Naruto chuckled and finished off the drink before he grabbed the bottle and pushed off of the table, "I'm gonna go save the small Anbu from my psychotic lover." He started.

Walking a way from Shikamaru, the fox moved over to the table Sasuke was sitting at, setting the bottle on the table, rather loudly to get their attention, and leaned forward to press his lips against Sasuke's. "You leave for two minutes and already you're picking up other men." Naruto murmured against Sasuke's lips.

"Hokage-sama." The young Anbu slurred quickly, a flush on his cheeks, a little jostled now that Naruto came in the middle of him and his sempai.

Sasuke smirked into the kiss, his dark eyes clearly glazed as he stared up at the kitsune, feeling a little boneless in his chair.

How many cups had he had?

He wasn't sure; he was just happy he couldn't really comprehend anything the younger ninja had been saying to him.

Naruto was here now.

Naruto turned towards the younger Anbu and smirked, "Mind if I have some time with my _uke_?" He teased gently, trying to embarrass the boy into leaving.

He knew Sasuke was no uke, rarely ever had he let Naruto take him, but when he did...

Naruto smirked to himself, and looked back to Sasuke, before he slithered into his lover's lap, ignoring the sounds of the music and people around him.

The Anbu had dismissed himself from the table as the Hokage climbed into Sasuke's lap, trying to curb the embarrassment as he walked away.

Sasuke didn't seem so worried over Naruto's arrogant comment, didn't care about it at all it seemed when the blonde climbed up into his lap. His arms wrapped around the blonde's middle, the Uchiha nuzzling against his collar before he trailed lazy sloppy kisses on his neck. "Naruto." He purred in a drunken slur, his glazed eyes looking up to his lover's profile.

Naruto gazed down at Sasuke lovingly, and brushed his lover's hair from his eyes, exposing the slightly glazed orbs. "Someone's already happy." He teased slightly, "That was quick."

Sasuke nuzzled along Naruto's collar, his lips brushing up his neck, "Mhm." Sasuke hugged the blonde's middle almost childishly, "Sake helps." He purred, feeling warm and content, not even aware of the expansive space with all the people anymore.

As far as Sasuke was concerned the world consisted of Sasuke and Naruto only.

Naruto chuckled slightly to Sasuke's easy going demeanor. "Sake does help." He reaffirmed. "But we just got here and there's a lot of it left, so try and hold off for a little bit, okay?" He leaned down, their forehead touching, as he rubbed their noses together.

"Okay." Sasuke agreed easily, once again finding interest in Naruto's neck, his lips lazily nipping at the skin he found as his eyes slipped closed. There was a flush on the pale ninja's cheeks; from sake and from the feeling of Naruto's body against his own in his drunken mind.

"Can't you two go anywhere without neckin'?" Kiba asked as he caught sight of the two lover's at the table.

Naruto chuckled, not bothering to stop Sasuke, "I can't control him, you know that." He let his hand trailed down Sasuke's back, almost encouraging to keep sucking, to mark him.

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba smirked and shook his head, "Hey, you two haven't seen Hinata-chan have you?"

"No." Naruto started, his brow furrowing slightly, "Are you ever going to tell her that you like her?" He asked almost in an exasperated tone.

"Shut up!" The dog ninja barked back.

Naruto couldn't help but snicker.

Sasuke lazily glanced in the direction of Kiba as the fuming ninja stalked off; obviously tonight would not be the night he told Hinata his feelings.

Sasuke wasn't so concerned with that.

Naruto's neck was much more interesting.

The brunette continued to suck at the skin before he finally laid back, his dark eyes regarded his bruises. "Mine." He grinned, placing a lazy kiss on one of the more prominent bruises.

Naruto smiled gently, his eyes gazing at Sasuke's profile as the man found himself back in his neck.

"Yes yours." He admitted.

He would never be anyone else's, nor would Sasuke go to another person.

They were perfect together.

--

Hours passed as the party continued, more sake had been dragged out and the original rookie nine were left in a small circle their own glasses and sake bottles ahead of them.

The drinking game of, 'I never' was rather interesting.

He glanced over at Sakura from his spot on the floor. He was lying on his stomach, his upper body arched, his chin resting in the palm of his hand.

"I've never kissed someone of the same sex." The pink haired girl said, her eyes flickering to Naruto and Sasuke.

"That's a personal shot!" Naruto yelled out.

But, surprisingly, he saw Shino and Neji both take a shot of their sake.

"Naruto!" Sakura slid over to the blonde so they were eye to eye, "You didn't drink!"

The blonde blinked and looked back at her before he snickered and took his own shot.

Sasuke had taken his own shot, slamming the cup back down on the floor. He was sitting cross-legged, one hand firmly on his own knee, the other still holding the cup.

He looked determined.

Though why it was unclear.

Sasuke's cheeks were flushed, his eyes glazed, he was well past the point of no return. It was a rather funny sight to see the Uchiha demon so docile and, well, flat-out drunk.

Sakura smiled at Naruto and Sasuke before she turned her eyes around the group again, putting a finger to her lips, "I've never had sex before."

Everyone looked at each other.

Everyone took a drink.

Except…

Rock Lee?!

Sadly…

No one really looked surprised.

Rock Lee's black eyes rooted on Sakura, "I've been saving myself for you Sakura-chan!"

Sakura giggled, swaying slightly, "For meee?"

Sasuke once again found his eyes trailing to Naruto, looking at his laid out form. Sasuke tilted his head as if seeing him for the first time. Sasuke smirked lazily, laying himself on his side, moving closer to the blonde, setting his chin playfully on his shoulder.

"Hokage-sama..." Sasuke said in a drawled purr, fingers trailing up Naruto's spine. After a moment Sasuke found himself lying on his back, his head tilted towards Naruto's elevated face.

Sasuke's hand reached for Naruto's free one, spreading the fingers as he kissed Naruto's digits one by one. His black eyes were rooted on the fox as he slipped a finger into his mouth, then another, sucking on them slowly as that same sexy smirk stayed on his lips. "Let's have sex." Sasuke said in a low tone; loud enough to be heard by just about everyone in the circle, but the Uchiha didn't seem to care about anyone right now but the kitsune.

Naruto repressed a shudder as Sasuke sucked on his fingers, and just gazed at his lover. He smirked down at him, lust starting to fill his eyes. "You're already had sex today." He pointed out, but knowing he owed Sasuke another round when they got home. He let Sasuke continue sucking on his fingers doing nothing to stop the action.

"God, you two are horrible." Shikamaru groaned letting his face drop into his hand. "Chouji, it's your turn."

Chouji already had some chips in his hand, his eyes fixed on Naruto and Sasuke. "I've never changed myself into a female."

Naruto's head shot up, "What the hell is this!?" He yelled, "Pick on Naruto!" He looked down at Sasuke who was still nibbling on his fingers, "Sasuke can do it, too you know."

"Yea, probably, but has he ever done it?" Chouji asked again.

"No."

"Take your shot."

"...fuck." Naruto threw the shot back and glared slightly at Sasuke, "You should try that, you know."

Sasuke pulled the wet digits out of his mouth, a little confused at Naruto glaring at him, but his mind was really only focused on one thing -- his goal to get Naruto to fuck him.

Sexy no jutsu?

Sasuke formed the seals; in a puff of chakra smoke there was a very womanly Sasuke in the male's place; her bosom tight against the shirt, her middle slightly exposed due to the riding shorts -- her chest causing the top to appear something akin to a half-top.

She was smaller than the usual Sasuke; thinner and defined in all the right places. She grinned up at Naruto, shifting so she could grip at the front of his shirt, pulling him towards her. Her blue-black curls were spiraled all around her figure, her keen cat-like eyes hooded by thick girlish lashes.

"Like this..?" Sasuke purred, licking Naruto's lower lip deliberately, watching him all the while.

Naruto's eyes were wide at the figure of Sasuke in a womanly form.

The ample breast, the curve going to her waist and back out to her hips.

The cat-like eyes were half lidded, the blue, black curls seemed to halo her face.

..._fuck_.

"We need to go." Naruto said quickly; he could feel something spreading throughout his body.

This new heated desire for this womanly Sasuke.

The eyes of most the ninja were on the female Sasuke; most confused by the pop of chakra and then riveted in place by the cooing female attached to Naruto.

Sasuke…willingly...transformed?

He must really be wasted.

Shikamaru had even spared a glance, taking another drink as he felt the weird attraction towards Sasuke thanks to the stupid sexy no jutsu.

Damn…

The Lazy ninja averted his eyes, trying to focus on anything else.

Sasuke smiled, lying on her back, her hands still fisted in the front of Naruto's shirt, pulling him slightly over herself.

"Where are we going Hokage-sama?" She murmured in that purring voice; though it was different from Sasuke's male voice, having a more feminine tone -- nearly begging Naruto to do something to her.

Her whole body was prone under the blonde, one leg against his hip as she remained submissive under her lover. Apparently Sasuke didn't register anyone else in the room right now, her dark eyes focused solely on the kitsune.

"Away from the public eye." Naruto sat back, his hands on Sasuke's thin wrists.

"Why? It's amusing." Sakura chuckled as she gazed at her former teammate.

Naruto didn't answer her, concentrating more on trying to get Sasuke to his her feet. "C'mon, get up, we're going home." He tried not to act as hot and bothered as he felt, but...

Damn.

Sasuke was too attractive for her own good.

Sasuke made it to her feet, wavering slightly as she fell against the blonde for support. That pleasant flush was on her cheek from alcohol as well as something else as she latched onto the blonde's arm.

"What're we going to do then?" Sasuke asked, her lips against the blonde's ear, her dark eyes gazing at him with that same hooded expression.

Sakura giggled, watching as Naruto tried to keep a level head, noticing his pinched expression as Sasuke mashed herself into his side. "Why don't you two stay?"

"We're still playing." Ino purred in a suggestive tone before she broke into laughter, hitting Chouji's arm for no real reason as she seemed to be laughing at her own unsaid joke.

Naruto somehow managed to get his arms around Sasuke, steadying the woman at his side. "Fine. My turn." He didn't move back to the circle, concentrating on keeping Sasuke up, "This is the last one, then we have to go, he's going to kill me when he remembers this."

Sakura only giggled.

"I've never had sex with the opposite sex." The blonde knew he'd get everyone in the room, they'd gone after him, it was time he went after them.

"You won't be able to say that tomorrow." Sakura said pointedly as she took her shot.

"We're done!" The fox smiled as started out of the room, "See you guys in two days!"

--

The road home seemed longer than it should have been.

But it was dark, and Sasuke could barely control her own body as Naruto helped her along the road. She almost tripped; tipsy and giggling as Naruto nearly swooped her up into his arms to keep Sasuke stable.

"I want you Hokage-sama." Sasuke purred, her hand tugging at his shirt, smiling as she nuzzled her cheek against his strong shoulder.

They made it home; to the garden, walking through in their same awkward stride as they walked up the porch steps and finally into the inviting home.

Naruto smirked down at the woman, still supporting her as he tried to get her to their bedroom.

He wanted her too.

Very badly.

But he wasn't going to take her drunk.

...maybe.

Probably.

"You're drunk, baby." He pointed out as he helped her sit back on the bed, moving to take her sandals, which were too big for her, off.

As Naruto started to take off her shoes -- Sasuke decided it was time she didn't have clothes either.

She lifted her shirt, tossing it to the floor and leaving herself exposed.

She leaned back up on the bed -- on her spine as she wiggled her hips, kicking her shorts off as she gazed up at the kitsune.

"No..." Sasuke stuck out her tongue playfully, her body slightly flushed from the walk, the alcohol, and her need for her lover. "C'mere." Sasuke cooed, reaching for the blonde, wanting to pull him atop her.

Naruto stared up at the naked, pale, curvy body; he caught the dark, glazed, lustful eyes and sighed.

Maybe she'd drop off now that Sasuke was lying down.

This was already hard enough.

Letting her leg go, the fox got up, and crawled back up the bed, and lay out next to her, resting on his side. "You're not drunk?" Naruto teased slightly, "I thought you were."

Sasuke frowned as the blonde avoided her; she was confused in her hazy mind why Naruto had yet to touch her. Sasuke rolled over, sprawled on the blonde's chest, her chin on his collar as she gazed up at him with bright black eyes. Sasuke's hand began to play with Naruto's neck, the thin digits ghosting over the arch of it and feeling the warm skin. "You don't want me?" Sasuke murmured softly, tilting her head and allowing the curls to favor one side of her round flushed face.

Naruto let out a groan as he was pushed onto his back, Sasuke resting over his body. "I didn't say that." He started, his neck unconsciously arching into the feel of her warm fingers. He wanted her, oh so badly, but he also didn't want to take advantage of his lover, in another form, while she was completely drunk.

"Then you do?" Sasuke seemed to perk up again, wiggling herself on Naruto's body to gain leverage on his much larger frame. Her lips found home on the blonde's neck, sloppily sucking the skin as she made her way along his jaw. She lifted her head, pressing her lips against Naruto's own -- moaning at the feel, her hand cupping the back of the kitsune's neck as she forced him to arch into the heated kiss.

Damn it!

The fox couldn't help his own reactions as Sasuke pressed her lips to his own. Naruto reached up, and cupped the small face, his palm brushing over the smooth skin. He could feel heat rushing through his body pooling in his loins as she wiggled her way onto him.

Sasuke smiled into the kiss, parting as her cat-like eyes glinted down at the blonde. She could feel Naruto's arousal, could feel his need as he arched into her smaller body.

Naruto did want her.

Good.

Sasuke moved down his frame with a poise one shouldn't possess while drunk, her hands ghosting along his sides as she gripped the top of his pants; unbuttoning them as she took the zipper between her teeth.

A smirk was on her lips as she pulled the latch down, her eyes rooted on Naruto's before she lifted herself just enough to yank down his loose shorts. Sasuke kissed the kitsune's belly, moving lower and lower until she ran her tongue along the hardening length -- taking the whole thing into her mouth and sucking it tenderly.

Naruto drew in a sharp breath, his legs coming up on either side of the girl, his hands fisting into the sheets. "Sas'ke!" He groaned as he felt her small mouth take him all in. He could feel sweat start to break out on his skin, his chest feeling stifled as his shirt was still on.

Sasuke groaned at the feel of the hard length in her mouth, running her tongue along the underside of it before she began sucking with vigor -- her head bobbing in time. Her hands came up to grip at Naruto's thighs as the blonde parted his legs, giving her more room to work.

Naruto was having a hard time remembering when Sasuke had ever been this vigorous with their foreplay it seemed the alcohol had loosened her inhibitions. Reaching down the fox thread his fingers through the dark blue-black curls, arching his hips into hot mouth as she bobbed her head.

Sasuke parted from Naruto in one foul swoop -- licking the tip almost playfully as she gazed up at the fox who seemed distraught that the warmth had fled from his aching shaft.

She moved herself back up the blonde, hands planted on either side of his head, giving him quite the view of her chest as she looked down at him -- spiraled curls all around them, kissing Naruto's forehead.

"Fuck me." She demanded in that sultry drunken tone, her legs spread as she straddled the blonde's waist, her moist self atop the blonde's member that was smashed against his own belly.

Naruto's hands trailed down Sasuke's thin body, resting at her waist before he turned them both over on the bed. Sitting back, he drew his tight shirt up and off his over-heated body, dropping it somewhere in the blankets. Leaning back over the girl, he immediately attacked her neck, his lips sucking greedily at the pale skin there, as he trailed his hand up her body cupping the ample breast.

Sasuke arched her spine, head back as she gave Naruto room -- a loud purring moan escaping her as the blonde attacked her prone neck. She felt the hands on her chest and shuddered, her legs wide as her thighs gripped at Naruto's hips -- trying to pull him further, positioning herself slyly to try and get his length to meet her entrance.

The fox, now lost in the sensations of touch, sounds, and tastes, wasn't going to allow himself to be tricked by his new temptress so easily. He shifted his body downwards, moving his lips across Sasuke's chest, his hand slipping to Sasuke's back, before he pressed his lips to her chest, sucking on the nipple, his hand arching her body to him, and he moved to suck at the other perked nipple.

"Ahh..nn.." Sasuke fell back against the bed as Naruto's hand swooped at the base of her back to keep her away from thrusting up towards him.

...she wanted more.

She wanted it right now!

Sasuke couldn't frown, her lips parted as moans and whimpers escaped her easily at the needy teeth sucking at her sensitive nipples.

Everything felt so good.

Her body loose and relaxed, feeling every detail of Naruto against herself, wanting him to just fuck her already but the Hokage-sama seemed to be taking it slow.

Naruto chuckled as he continued moving down the girl's body, leaving sloppy, wet kisses as he went.

He smirked as he rested between her legs, and sucked on his own finger, as he gazed back up at her. He had a playful look about him as he descended on the little bundle of nerves just before her entrance, his tongue flicking at it as his wet finger teased the opening.

"Naa.." Her hands fisted in his hair, too weak to tug him back up her body, falling victim to the sinful tongue and playful finger. "Naruto." She whimpered, trying to move her hips but she couldn't escape the intense feeling. Her eyes were half-lidded as she looked down at the blonde, begging him for more. Sasuke was a vocal thing; squirming and moaning as the kitsune teased her skin. So unlike the usual Uchiha -- so submissive and willing; not trying to take control at all. "More…" She panted, "O-onegai…"

Naruto slowly pulled back after he heard the panting breath beg him for something more. Pulling his finger out, the fox turned heated eyes back up to his lover. He pulled her hand out of his hair, and easily sucked on the digits as he moved back up her body, before he wrapped that arm around his neck. "_My_ Sasuke." Naruto breathed out as he moved to situate his hips at her entrance.

Sasuke didn't have much time to respond, her tipsy mind trying to focus past the haze of lust as Naruto spoke tenderly to her -- placing her arm around his neck as he shifted their bodies more flush together.

Her hips were raised; feeling his hardness at her opening caused her to moan in anticipation.

As she felt it penetrate her a hiss of discomfort passed her lips and as he continued onward -- it felt like he had just stabbed her; she wiggled, a spasm of pain on her face as Naruto buried inside of her.

"Hu..rt..s.." She whimpered, her knees clutching his middle in a weak attempt to get him to stay still. Her forehead was against his chest, her body tight as she clenched around his member as if trying to push the foreign object out of her body. "Naru.." She whined, sweat beaded on her skin.

Naruto couldn't fathom why Sasuke was saying it hurt, when all he felt was the hot warmth of the slick cavern that he was sheathed in.

Breathing heavily, he stayed still…

If she said it hurt...

He felt a need to try and comfort her, but with his hands supporting his own weight, and with the fear of moving, he couldn't do anything. "Sasuke." He breathed out, his cheek nudging at her forehead, "Just breathe."

Sasuke started to uncoil from the blonde, laying out below him and trying to stabilize herself. As Naruto stayed still the feeling of pain had ebbed to a feeling of restless want. Experimentally the Uchiha lifted her hips pushing Naruto just a tad further before she slipped him out.

Okay…

Sasuke moaned softly as she moved again, feeling the hardness inside of her -- this time it hadn't hurt, it felt warm and good. Sasuke's hands fisted in the sheets as she felt warmth in her stomach; feeling the need for more of this sensation. "_Move_." Sasuke said firmly, her dark eyes on the blonde, thrusting her hips in a needy manner.

Naruto groaned heavily at the feel of Sasuke rocking up along his length.

He didn't need to be told twice.

As she pulled away, Naruto drew back before he started moving into the girl at the pace that she had set. He moaned heavily at the wet, hot feel moving and clenching around him.

It felt so good…

He'd never felt anything like that before, it was intoxicating, almost like a drug, he wanted more of it.

Sasuke's eyes had shut, her lips parted as moans, whimpers, and pants were mixing together as their lustful dance continued.

In and out, in and out.

The pace got quicker and quicker as they both approached their peaks.

Sasuke hadn't felt this before, the weird warmth all over her body, the tight muscles inside of her grabbing at Naruto every time he entered.

She wanted more…

Gods…

More!

Sasuke arched her back, sweat falling down her temple as she groaned loudly, feeling Naruto thrust into her relentlessly.

She was getting close.

Naruto could feel his muscles starting to tighten as Sasuke continued to clench those tight muscles around him.

It was like she had him in a vice, a pleasurable, wet vice.

"Nnn! Sasu!" Naruto felt sweat trailing down the length of his spine, and down his temple.

He needed to find a way to move faster, deeper in her.

Pausing for just a moment, he dropped down onto his forearms and pushed himself deep into Sasuke and started a fast rhythm. He was so close to his end, he could feel it just around the corner, the slowly clenching of his muscles and the need to move faster driving him on.

Almost there!

"Ahn..." Sasuke purred, her eyes hooded by thick lashes as she gazed up at her needy lover, watching him pound relentlessly into her.

Gods…

Naruto just kept up his frantic pace, not giving her a moment to catch her breath and it was becoming too much.

"Naruto..." She whimpered, lifting her arms and grabbing tight around him as he slammed himself into her. "God..Na..Naruto!" She groaned against his shoulder, biting into the flesh as she felt her orgasm crash heavily upon her. All her muscles tightened; her body shaking from the intense sensation.

Naruto felt his body all but cease as Sasuke's muscles clenched around him.

He leaned heavily over her as he felt his own release.

He called out her name, buried deep inside of her, his hand gripping her waist tightly as his muscles spasmed.

Sasuke whimpered as she felt the hot seed coat her insides, making her feel warm and sated. She tried to catch her breath, her heart pounding in her ears as her eyes slipped shut. Sleepily she reached and hugged the boneless blonde to her smaller frame. Her hands moved soothingly along his scalp as they both came down from their high.

Naruto continued to breathe heavily as he rested above and in Sasuke. He could feel her pulling at his hair, but it was almost comforting as he rested his forehead against her shoulder.

He felt sated, and exhausted…

Naruto smiled gently as he felt his muscles start to relax. Turning his head, he pressed his lips against Sasuke's neck.

--

A/N:

OMG!

Two lemons in one chapter!

Again, the story seems so fluffy and happy doesn't it?

I hope everyone is enjoying it while it lasts; and I hope the party scene was enjoyable.

Sorry if Sasuke seems too submissive, however, I have a vision in my head of how Sasuke is when he's drunk – a very submissive and agreeable whore. Haha. A reason why my Sasuke normally doesn't drink unless under horrible stress or in a situation he doesn't care for, like the party.

Again, sorry if it's OOCish to anyone.

Please leave a review and the next chapter will be out shortly!


	3. Chapter 3

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Three'

Gods…

His head hurt.

Sasuke was pressed up against something warm and fleshy, his head pounding as he tried to fathom waking up. He slowly blinked his eyes open, hissing from the bright light of the day, burying his head in Naruto's shoulder as a frown tugged his lips.

What happened?

...he drank too much.

Had to have; his head was trying to explode and last night was a blur or fuzzy images.

Was he naked?

Sasuke glanced down at himself…yup.

His lethargic eyes glanced to Naruto, noticing his naked tanned frame and deducted the obvious conclusion that they had to have had drunken sex last night.

…but he didn't feel sticky.

His ass didn't hurt.

Did he do Naruto?

That usually wasn't the case when he was drunk, but well, first time for everything.

Sasuke kept his frown, peering down to Naruto's clean stomach.

Hm…

Naruto felt Sasuke shifted ever so slightly underneath his body. He groaned slightly as he felt the stabbing of light at his eyes. Shifting slightly, he felt his head start to pound.

God...

He never was going to drink again…

Naruto rolled crawling back over Sasuke's body, resting over his lover's chest, trying to hide from the light.

"Get up..." Sasuke groaned sleepily, the pressure on his chest and abdomen was causing him to start to feel the unpleasant nausea. "Go..." The Uchiha nearly whined trying to push Naruto's heavy body off of his own using as little force as possible to not further upset his stomach or his head.

Naruto groaned as he felt the push against his body, and managed to roll off of his lover, trying to find the darkness in their room. "...tired." Naruto whined as his head started to start throbbing.

Sasuke lay out on his spine, running a hand through his hair as he tried to force himself awake. Sasuke looked up at the ceiling before his eyes fell back on Naruto. "…did we have sex?" Sasuke asked his dark eyes half-lidded as he surveyed the fox who was trying to escape the ever present bright light of day.

Naruto slowly raised his head; his eyes squinted against the bright light coming into their room. "What?" Naruto murmured his voice horse. "Yeah." He answered after a moment, before he rested his head back down on his pillow; Naruto's head was really killing him.

"Mm..." Sasuke stared at Naruto a long moment, trying to pick his hurting brain for the images but he was coming up null.

…oh well.

Didn't matter anyway.

Sasuke turned his face towards the bathroom and away from the light trying to will himself out of bed.

...this was going to take a while.

--

Naruto had no clue how long both he and Sasuke slept for, having dropped off not long after they had originally woken up. He found himself waking up under his pillow, and his arm hiding under Sasuke's body.

God, what time was it?

He groaned as he slowly pushed his pillow off of his head and blurrily looked to his clock.

Three forty-seven in the afternoon.

Ugh.

He let out a low moan and slowly pulled his arm out from underneath Sasuke's body and rolled on to his back.

Naruto still felt so relaxed and content.

He couldn't help but smile despite the dull ache in his head.

Sasuke felt Naruto moving in bed; groaning the Uchiha tried to move away from his squirming lover. Sasuke took the blankets with him, his back turned on the blonde as his sleepy irritated eyes glancing to the clock.

Damn…

The day was almost over.

Sasuke's legs were pulled to his chest; trying to make himself as small as possible as he tried to ignore Naruto, he wanted to keep sleeping. Sasuke closed his eyes again; his shoulders tense though his head didn't hurt as bad as it had earlier.

The fox glanced Sasuke's way when he heard his lover move around in their bed. He slowly rolled up out of the bed, his mind set of taking a shower. He shuffled towards the bathroom, a long sigh escaping him. He could hardly remember last night, and he hadn't been near as drunk as Sasuke had.

As he moved to step into the shower, he let out a sigh, as he felt the warm spray hit his chest. The parts he could remember were his lover moaning quite loudly. He almost giggled slightly; his womanly Sasuke certainly was submissive.

--

Sasuke had forced himself out of bed sometime between then and now. Dressed only in a loose pair of pajama bottoms the Uchiha had made his way to the kitchen. He had gotten a glass of water, sitting at the table and thinking about the upcoming days.

…did he have anything to do?

He had already taken some aspirin; so his head wasn't hurting so bad.

He didn't think he had an upcoming mission. There was a scouting trip, but that was near the end of the week if not further than that.

...stupid scouting.

Naruto yawned as he slowly moseyed out of the room, wearing low riding shorts. He snuck up behind Sasuke, looping his arms around his lover's waist. "You were noisy last night." He purred in his lover's ear.

Sasuke was caught out of his thoughts by Naruto's firm hug and the purring voice in his ear. Sasuke flushed, trying to shrug Naruto away, "Shut up. I was drunk." He murmured in his defense, unable to clearly remember last night to tell the truth.

Naruto chuckled gently, "Yep." He rested his chin on the Uchiha's shoulder. "I did try to tell you, but you were rather frisky." Naruto teased as he sat down on the stool behind his lover, drawing his lover closer against his chest.

Sasuke allowed himself to be pulled into Naruto's firm chest, letting himself relax as he sipped at his drink. After a moment the Uchiha tilted his head back on Naruto's shoulder, his dark eyes regarding him as he inhaled Naruto's freshly showered scent. "When is my next mission?" Sasuke asked after a moment, unable to truly recall since his mind was still trying to catch up from last night.

Naruto shrugged, "I'd have to check with the office, but I think it was at the end of the month, so maybe three weeks." He said after a moment. "I thought you wanted to finish our fun room?" He breathed out in Sasuke's ear.

Three weeks?

Sasuke frowned just a little before he wiggled back into his lover, kissing the base of his jaw before he smirked to the kitsune. "Impatient?" The Uchiha murmured easily, "I'll finish it."

"Good!" He tightened his arms around his lover. "Did you have fun last night?" He asked after a moment, his mind vaguely wondering if Sasuke remembered anything about changing into a female the night before.

"I was loud." Sasuke said after a moment, "So I suppose I did?" He reached once more for his glass, bringing it to his lips, "It's…fuzzy." He admitted, unable to clearly recall much of anything.

Naruto smirked slightly, "What's the last thing that you remember?" He asked. "I mean, when we played 'I never'." He couldn't help himself really; he needed to tell him about the sexy-no-jutsu. "You remember using the sexy-no-jutsu?"

He recalled walking to the party…

The people…

The jumble of voices, the sake…

But it was kind of a mess of images and sounds; nothing was clear enough to piece together and make complete sense.

…sexy no jutsu?

Sasuke frowned to himself, turning his dark eyes on his lover, "I did the sexy no jutsu?" He asked in a low tone, "...at the tower?"

Naruto nodded, trying to refrain from chuckling. "Yeah." He rested his lips just behind Sasuke's shoulder, his smiling eyes looking at Sasuke's profile. "It was rather distracting, no lies."

God damn it!

Sasuke had to see his team in a few weeks; if not sooner to get ready and train.

...and he had turned into a woman in front of them; probably a mess from the sake and Naruto.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, "They better not remember any of it." He snapped a threat in his voice.

Naruto chuckled slightly as Sasuke seemed to furrow at the news, "It was only the old rookie nine." He reassured. "None of your team was there." He promised. "I wouldn't let them see that, you'd kill me."

Sasuke seemed to be eased by that news -- if only slightly.

"…nn." Sasuke made a noise in his throat, letting himself relax back against his lover. He could deal with their close friends; the only one he truly saw on a regular basis was Shikamaru anyway, and he doubted the lazy ninja would even bring it up.

Good.

--

It had been nearly a month now since the party at the tower.

The three weeks before the mission Sasuke had worked on the additional room -- it was nearly finished, the base of it done they just needed to clean it up a bit and paint the walls.

Currently through the Uchiha was a good week into the mission; just a scouting trip but he was starting to miss Naruto.

He normally missed the fox…

But it was an unbearable want; it was weird, like his heart was yearning and he didn't understand why he felt so emotional.

...whatever.

Sasuke had been feeling a bit sick as well, normally in the early morning, but since it was afternoon now his stomach was still aching him a bit.

It was strange.

The Uchiha hadn't eaten anything since the day before; everyone ate the same thing and yet he felt the stomach sickness. Sasuke was sitting amongst his team, the group of them circled in the clearing as they took a short rest to gain their bearings.

Why was he feeling this way?

A frown tugged his lips, the Uchiha caught in thought, oblivious almost to his teammates as they chatted amongst themselves.

The team of seven Anbu were all crouched around their little camp out, just snacking on some food. They were at the edges of Konoha, hidden in one fo the bases, so their masks were all skewed to the sides, revealing their faces.

Shinya, who had been on the team for almost as long as Sasuke had, looked back at their leader resting against the base of a tree. He raised an eyebrow before he got up, and took the simple protein bar with him. Crouching down next to him he set it on the man's raised knee, "You haven't eaten since yesterday." Shinya pointed out.

Sasuke frowned slightly waving his hand, "You're concern is unneeded." Sasuke said in a dismissive drawl, his dark eyes still a bit distant -- his mind pre-occupied and the mere thought of eating was pushing his nausea up further.

...he didn't get it.

He had taken some stomach settling medicine and yet it hadn't worked.

Sasuke was hoping their trip would be over soon; he really just wanted to go home.

Shinya only raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, he knew better than to argue with his Captain.

"Alright." He sighed heavily as he stood back up, "But don't say I never did anything nice for you." It was a simple joke; he knew Sasuke would never say anything like that. But, whatever virus had struck their Captain, he'd have to keep an eye on, the whole team couldn't get it.

Sasuke glanced towards Shinya as the man walked back towards the main piece of the group. Sasuke felt a little more on edge than usual; so he decided not to attempt to smooth over the snap he gave to his teammate.

It didn't matter really.

Slowly the Uchiha got up from the ground, dusting himself off and gathering up his weapons.

They should be heading out.

Shinya easily slid his mask back into place and stepped up behind Sasuke, his normal place in the squad.

They all filed out of the hidden base, moving silently as only Anbu could.

The man activated his Hyuuga-like eyes. His own orbs going black, as a pulse of invisible chakra spread out around them, finding anything that had a heartbeat. It was an advanced version of echolocation, but for eyes.

He felt the chakra bouncing back, and his mental eye picked up images of animals and the occasional traveler, but nothing out of the ordinary.

He felt something out of place though.

His eyes couldn't pick up figures hidden by chakra, so if anyone was hiding, he wouldn't be able to see them.

Sasuke continued as the lead of the squad, bouncing easily from branch to branch as they continued their quick pace out of the forest. The Uchiha's senses heightened, unsure why he felt on edge until a kunai embedded in the trunk -- right next to his face; the blade had cut a clean line across his cheek as it flew by.

Damn!

Sasuke immediately stopped; knowing it was a wrong idea to stay prone, dropping to a lower branch just as more kunai slammed where his body had just been.

Shit!

Where were they coming from?

Sasuke didn't like being lured like this -- weapons thrown in a precise arch to force his team where the hidden ninja wanted them. Sasuke drew his blade, deflecting a few shuriken as he attempted to feel out what was around them.

As Sasuke dropped down, Shinya jumped up out of the way, avoiding the kunai. Focusing his eyes once more he found that they were all hiding from them. They needed stronger eyes, ones that could see their invisible enemies. He heard rustling below him and watched as a ninja, wearing a Rock country hiteate leapt out from hiding, katana drawn and going for Sasuke's back.

"Taichou! Behind you!"

Sasuke turned, lifting his blade to deflect when a pain hit his stomach -- he gasped, his blade faltering giving the other ninja the half second he needed to come down on the Uchiha.

The katana pierced his side, right through the armor; but the Uchiha had been able to move, able to have the blade only cut in shallowly away from any internal organs.

Sasuke leapt back, sharingan springing to life at the user's need for speed; for precision. Sasuke's red eyes narrowed as he kicked off the branch, his katana held tight in his hands as he lunged at the offending ninja.

Pain was null.

Sasuke didn't care about the bleeding wound; he only cared to draw blood, to kill this man and all the others who ambushed his team.

The intruder leapt back from the lunge, blocking the singing blade coming for his head. He growled at the force it took to keep the blade at bay, his eyes narrowing at Sasuke, he needed to throw him off balance.

Letting out a yell, and ignoring the rest of the fighting going on around him, the man flexed him muscles pushing back against the blade and bringing his knee up to Sasuke's injured side, slamming it into the damaged skin.

Shit!

Sasuke growled as he was kneed, not letting the ninja have an inch but knowing the aggravated wound would just bleed more freely now. Sasuke wasn't deterred -- like a man possessed the Uchiha forced the blade down on the male, overpowering him with sheer strength.

As the man's own blade was against his face the Uchiha reached for a kunai, letting the man have a moment to push Sasuke's blade away -- but leaving himself open for that brief second that the Uchiha took to slam the kunai into his prone throat.

Shinya dropped down to the branch that his Captain was on.

The fight had been quick, only five men, against their eight Anbu.

Only one injured.

"Captain." Shinya asked almost cautiously as he caught sight of the blood on his side. The spray of blood from the man Sasuke had been fighting, had splattered itself on the Uchiha's mask and uniform, mixing with his own blood.

Sasuke's mood hadn't been well, and whenever blood was in the air Sasuke's mood changed for the worst normally.

The entire team was tense as they awaited Sasuke's response.

Sasuke let his eyes deactivate -- feeling the sheer pain of the wound mixing with his own nausea. Sasuke threw his mask off, kneeling on the branch, his expression strained before he ended up throwing up.

He coughed, his body doubled over from the force of the sickness as well as the horrible biting pain from the aggravated wound. "Konoha." Sasuke snarled, "We need to report this." The Uchiha took a deep breath, holding himself up by the trunk of the tree.

Shinya nodded and looked to the six remaining men, all watching cautiously, almost unsure as their Captain doubled over.

"You three go on ahead, report this to the Hokage. You two stay here and gather the evidence and catch up. I'll take the Captain back." Shinya ordered out. Moving next to Sasuke, he shifted, so he could press his hand against the Uchiha's side, and reached for some bandages so he could do a quick field patch. "You okay?"

"Fine." Sasuke said in his usual edged tone, his body tense as Shinya's hand rested on his shoulder in what was supposed to be a friendly manner – but Sasuke was always a loose cannon.

Sasuke sat back on the tree limb, allowing the fellow ninja to help him bandage his side. He didn't want to loose anymore blood -- he felt sick and now cold already; he didn't want it getting worse. "I'm sick." Sasuke murmured in a low tone, "That's all.

Sick?

That was obvious.

Shinya quickly finished patching up the wound and grabbed Sasuke's katana, easily sheathing the silver blade before he grabbed his arm and attached it behind his head. "C'mon, you're Hokage-sama is going to have our heads for this."

Shinya had helped Sasuke to the hospital -- Konoha hadn't been so far away from their position, but it was still far enough.

Sasuke had been patched up, the wound not deep enough to cause too much damage -- it had gotten a few stitches but it probably wouldn't leave a lasting scar.

Currently the Anbu captain was sitting on a stark white hospital bed, clad only in his pants -- weapons, armor, and top lying on the table next to the bed.

Sakura was sitting with Sasuke; she had healed his mild injury, had watched as Sasuke ran to the bathroom twice with nausea already. The Uchiha looked pale, sweat on his brow and Sakura didn't think the blood loss had been so terrible to cause the bout of sickness and sweat.

…but, she could have been wrong?

Sakura smiled fondly at the brooding man; apparently he was upset Naruto still hadn't come down from the tower to see him. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were pregnant." She stuck her tongue out, setting her feet on the floor as she got ready to leave. "When Naruto gets here have him check you out, you should go home and rest, you probably just have a flu bug."

With that the girl left, leaving Sasuke to his thoughts.

…pregnant?

No.

He couldn't be.

That was just stupid.

It had taken Naruto much longer than what he had wanted to get away from the papers and the people in the tower. After receiving news that Sasuke had been injured and Shinya was bringing him to the hospital, the kit had been frantic, but he tried not to let it show.

As he jogged through the tower and down into the street towards the hospital, still dressed in his Hokage robe, and ink pen still behind his ear, the fox easily ran into the Emergency Center, where he knew the nurses would easily point him in the direction of his lover.

As he ran down the nearest corridor, he caught sight of Sakura coming out of the room he assumed was Sasuke's. "How is he?" He asked, his voice betraying the calm facade he had tried to work into place.

Sakura started as the fox ran right up to her; stopping a half foot away as he asked of the Uchiha. She smiled slightly, slapping the blonde on the arm, "Why don't you ask him yourself?" Sakura eyed the kitsune, "He got cut pretty good in the side, but nothing I couldn't fix up. But, apparently he's caught a sickness or something on the mission, he's throwing up a lot." Sakura said simply, "Probably due to the blood loss maybe or maybe Sasuke hasn't been taking care of himself again?" She waved her hand, "I don't know, you should ask him, I have other patients to see."

Sick?

Sasuke was sick?

Naruto barely listened to the rest of Sakura's sentence before he slid his lover's door open and stepped inside. He caught sight of the dark eyes, and the bandaged side and moved over to the bed. "Hey, how you doing?" He asked quickly his eyes flickering down to the wound, "What happened?"

"Ambush." Sasuke murmured easily though he was sure the fox knew about it already; the other Anbu had gone ahead towards the tower after all. Sasuke glanced away from the blonde, feeling foolish for having been wounded by those low-level ninja.

...stupid sickness.

"I'm doing fine." His demeanor said otherwise, as did the paleness of his skin, but Sasuke didn't hint at anything else. He flicked his dark eyes on the blonde, "What took you so long?" There was a bite of unneeded annoyance in Sasuke's tone; but he had missed the fox, a bit too much on his scouting trip.

"Stupid people at the tower kept grabbing me as I was trying to run out." Naruto said, his voice sounding apologetic. He reached out to his lover's pale face and gently brush the dark, blood stained hair away, his eyes still holding concern for the pale pallor. "They said you've been sick." Naruto started, moving his hand to rest on his lover's forehead. "What's up with that?" He asked in a tenderly joking tone.

Sasuke flushed slightly from Naruto's intensely tender gaze and the soft hand on his forehead. "I don't know." He murmured, "It hit me all of a sudden." Sasuke shifted on the bed, moving a little closer to Naruto, "It's probably almost ran it's course though."

Naruto let out a sigh and bit his bottom lip. "Still..." Naruto shifted so Sasuke could rest against him, "It's not normal for you to get sick." He dropped his hand from Sasuke's brow and glanced back at the wound.

Silence settled, the two men settled in each other's company a moment.

"Rock County ambushed you." Naruto murmured his eyes fixating on the bandage. "There goes the peace treaty.."

"Mm.." Sasuke's head tilted on Naruto's shoulder, "It wasn't going to last forever."

…peace was good in theory.

But it was only a matter of time before someone rose against them.

Sasuke set a hand on his stomach trying to ease it, "I want to go home."

Naruto noticed the hand moving down to Sasuke's stomach and gently rested his over top. "Okay, let me go fill out the paper work." He murmured. Pressing a kiss to his lover's forehead he slowly pulled back and slid off of the bed. "Do you want me to get you some soda? Try and settle your stomach?" Naruto asked as he slid the door open, his cerulean eyes regarding Sasuke once more.

Sasuke shook his head to the blonde, "I'm fine." He urged again, looking off into the expanse of white space.

Naruto had left then, closing the door and leaving the Uchiha to his own deductions of what was going on.

...this was just a flu bug.

It had to be.

Why else would it not be?

Men don't get pregnant.

Sexy no Jutsu doesn't make you a real woman.

…right?

Gods...

This seriously wasn't happening.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair trying to tame his wandering mind.

--

Naruto was back within twenty minutes, getting a small pain medication for his lover along the way. "Did they salvage your clothes?" He asked as he stepped through the door, "Or did they destroy them?" He asked as he walked over to the hospital bed. "Doctor's going to be here in a second to take a second look, unhook you and then we can go." He added as he took his seat on the bed, his arm pillowing behind Sasuke's shoulders and head.

Sasuke had remained leaning back in the bed, shifting as the blonde moved closer to him, his arm behind his head. Sasuke gestured to the table where his Anbu gear was, "They're right there." He said simply, keeping himself out of his own thoughts.

--

Sasuke had been discharged from the hospital, able to finally go home and rest off whatever this sickness was.

Naruto had helped Sasuke into bed, the Uchiha lying on his spine as he looked up at the ceiling.

He…felt so strange.

Sasuke normally didn't get sick.

So maybe that was why it was affecting him so much.

…but then again...

Sasuke let his eyes slide shut, his muscles relaxing.

He really didn't want to think anymore.

Naruto watched as Sasuke easily dropped off as he got him home and in bed.

He hadn't even bothered to change his clothes.

Making a small face, Naruto moved back over to Sasuke's dresser and easily pulled out on of the man's flannel pants, before he moved back to the bed, easily changing him out of his Anbu gear and into some normal clothes. He'd have to help Sasuke shower when he got back from the Tower the next day, but for the night, he'd be fine.

--

A/N:

Lots of scene changes I know, but it helps move the story along. I know this chapter didn't have too much action but the next one is a doozy I guarantee it! I hope you all are still intrigued, all of you readers do sound like you're enjoying this story and that's great! It's going to be another very long fiction, haha.

Please leave a review and the next chapter should be up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Four'

Sasuke had woken up alone.

For the better.

He had been feeling sick; throwing up most the morning though thankfully Naruto had been gone -- up to the tower no doubt to be buried under paperwork regarding this new threat to the village.

Sasuke was alone.

The Uchiha had finally got himself up and running, wearing a black long-sleeved top and a pair of khaki cargo pants. His hair was still a little mussed since he slept awkwardly on it; but he didn't care too much.

…pregnant.

That word just kept floating into his head, kept taunting him.

Damn it; he couldn't be!

Sasuke frowned to himself as he found himself slipping on his shoes and walking out of the home into the bright new day. He smelt the crisp air filled with the scents of flowers, fresh dirt, and the first wafting of fresh food as he neared the bazaar in the center of town.

He could do this.

Just be calm, collected.

The Uchiha walked into the pharmacy stall, his dark eyes flicking here and there almost in a nervous fashion.

"Uchiha-san! Good morning!"

Sasuke ignored the blonde clerk, her girlish smile not even registered as the man walked around the small area intent on something.

"...can…I help you?" She asked, a little deterred Sasuke hadn't responded.

There!

Sasuke grabbed up the conspicuous box, stalking to the counter and placing the object on it; his cheeks red.

Her smile faltered just slightly -- Pregnancy test?!

"Uh...this all for you?" She nearly squeaked, ringing up the item and handing the paper bag to the Anbu captain.

...was....Sasuke cheating on Naruto?

This couldn't be happening to Konoha!

The girl was at a loss as she watched Sasuke stalk out of the stall -- Konoha was surely doomed now, the emotional Hokage-sama just couldn't know of this.

"What is it Sayori?"

"Mama!"

...and yet, the rumor started.

--

Sasuke had been sitting at home for a few hours now, alone, cross-legged on the bed his hair wet from a recent shower.

...pregnant.

He…was…_pregnant._

Sasuke didn't know what to feel at that thought, his hand on his undeveloped stomach, his confused black eyes staring down at his own hand.

…this wasn't happening.

It had to be wrong.

--

For as large of a village as Konoha was, some rumors took time to circulate through the great vine while others raced through like a raging wild fire.

Unfortunately, rumors of Sasuke buying a pregnancy test flew through the village, and ultimately reached the tower. It was nearing evening by the time the rumor had reached the tower; the whispers grew, as they spiraled up the stairs towards the Hokage's office.

Naruto sighed heavily as he meandered back to his office, rubbing his neck as he went.

God, he hoped that Sasuke was alright by himself.

Naruto was hoping the sickness had run it's course, but it still seemed to be going strong.

Maybe he should have gone back at lunch to check on him.

"Did you hear?" A female voice started her pitch high and fast, it was either really exciting news or really good gossip.

"No, what?" Another answerd.

Naruto ignored them as he continued walking.

"Uchiha-San knocked some girl up!"

"No!" The other giggled, her eyes bright with excitement.

"I know! I couldn't believe it my self!"

Naruto froze, and blinked.

Sasuke had..._what?_

Turning he caught sight of the two women, his cerulean eyes fixated on them, "Say that again!"

The girl who spoke first seemed to shrink back. "Um..."

"What did Sasuke do?" Naruto pressed, he could feel anger and confusion ripping through him.

Sasuke had slept with a female, and had knocked her up!

"I-It's just a rumor, H--hokage-sama…"

But Naruto knew, rumors like that didn't start from nothing, something sparked it. Narrowing his eyes, he turned away from the girls and started for the office, intending to leave through the window and fly back to the house.

--

Landing on the roof rather loudly, the blonde dropped to the garden and glared at the open bedroom window, his sleeves rolled up, his cerulean eyes slitted like the fox he was, "_Sasuke_." Naruto growled out as he hopped through the window, his eyes on his lover's back.

Sasuke was confused by Naruto's biting tone, as well as the sudden appearance of the blonde as he came in through their window. Sasuke's brows furrowed as he took note of the slitted eyes, his dark eyes nearly calculating as he tried to figure out the situation.

…what?

Sasuke frowned slightly, shifting on the bed and feeling an odd sort of emotion radiating off the fox. "Naruto..?" He murmured uncertainly.

"Something you want to tell me!" He snarled, "Something that the whole village seems to know!" He moved across the room, sliding out of his orange Hokage robe and tossing it to the chair, the sleeves of his black zip up were pushed up to his elbows.

"You fuckin' had an affair!" Naruto snapped, not giving Sasuke a chance to answer, "The whole village knows!" He shook his head, "What the hell! I protected you from the village! I fucking got you into the Anbu and this is how you repay me! By knocking up some, some...some whore!"

Affair?

Whore?

Knocked up?

It took a moment for Naruto's angry words to process but the Uchiha found himself standing before the blonde almost in a defensive posture; unsure just how far Naruto would take his anger -- the way he approached him, the snarl in his voice, and the way his sleeves were rolled up caused the Uchiha to tense.

"I didn't knock anyone up." Sasuke said back in a low tone, "I'm not having an affair; who the hell did you hear that from?"

…the whole village?

What?

Then it hit him -- of course!

The stupid pregnancy test.

Damn it.

Sasuke's cheeks tinted slightly, his eyes averted, probably not the best expression to have at the moment but Sasuke's realization struck him rather quickly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed even further at the averted eyes.

Lying.

Sasuke was lying.

He breathed deeply and evenly, trying to control the anger within him. "Get out." Naruto's voice was harsh, gesturing for the man to leave the room, leave his home.

Sasuke's dark eyes flicked up to the blonde in that moment, "Naruto." Sasuke's heart fluttered, the stupid ass didn't even know the full story and he was trying to kick him out.

Gods...

He didn't want to deal with this; he wasn't sure about this pregnancy thing, he didn't think it was really possible, and he had wanted to lead into telling Naruto about it. Sasuke didn't take a step towards the blonde, remained tense before the kitsune, disturbed by Naruto's raw anger. "I bought a pregnancy test." He said in an even flat tone, "That's what all this bull shit is about."

"I don't care." The fox's voice or tone didn't change as he kept his eyes on Sasuke's, neither making a move towards the other. "You bought it for...whoever she is." He could feel betrayal starting to take the place of the anger, sadness starting to creep up just behind it. "I said, Get out of my house."

Sasuke's cheeks were flushed, his own bite of anguish stinging him; not liking Naruto's tone or those dead blue eyes looking at him. Anger tried to flush through his own system to try and quell his own hurt, "I bought it for myself you dumb shit!" Sasuke glared at the Hokage-sama, "You knocked me up! That's why I've been sick!"

Sasuke averted his eyes, storming out of the room, slamming open the bedroom door -- feeling a weird constriction in his throat, feeling hurt in more ways than one. "Whatever. Fuck you." Sasuke snarled, not hearing Naruto respond the Uchiha slammed their bedroom door shut, stomping down the hall intent on leaving the house.

...he had wanted to tell him when he got home.

How dare Naruto accuse him of sleeping around?

Didn't even fucking ask him his side!

Came in just assuming the Uchiha cheated on him!

...fucker.

Sasuke made himself get angry, made himself try and forget the hurt in his heart, forget the fear and uncertainty he had been feeling earlier in Naruto's absence when he first found out he was pregnant.

...damn it.

He was feeling sick again.

Naruto could only stand in the bedroom in shock.

He had knocked Sasuke up?

That was impossible.

...wasn't it?

Turning the fox slid the door open, using enough force to send it off its hinges, "You honestly think I'm stupid enough to believe that shit!" He stared down the hall after Sasuke; he ignored the fact that Sasuke had been sick, without a fever, without any other symptoms but vomiting. "Are you too scared to tell me the truth, ya chicken shit!"

Sasuke's back was tense, his stride faltering as the kitsune stormed after him, yelling at his back like the idiot he was. Sasuke's hand was on his stomach, trying to calm it, not wanting to look weak now -- he was trying to stay pissed, but his heart was hurting.

...why didn't Naruto believe him?

"I did tell you the truth." Sasuke snarled, "But what the hell does it matter? Apparently some stupid bitches' spreading rumors in the village hold more truth than me." Sweat was on Sasuke's brow as he tried to fight back to sickness.

Fuck!

He found himself moving towards the kitchen knowing he probably should have ran out to the garden to get out of Naruto's home as he had wanted...

But the sickness came upon him in a rush due to the strain he had just made himself go through -- he had thrown up into the sink, coughing as he tried to regain some composure.

"I'm leaving." He snapped before another coughing fit took him, his eyes squeezed shut trying to force himself away from the counter.

Fucking Naruto.

Naruto paused in the living room, listening to the force that Sasuke used to throw up. His brow furrowed, momentarily stunned. Concern started to break through the anger and betrayal, he stepped forwards towards Sasuke. "It's not possible for you to get pregnant." Naruto tried to reason, "So tell me why those women would be spreading the rumor that you knocked some girl up." His voice was a bit calmer, but still stern.

Sasuke did look pretty unhealthy at the moment.

Sasuke had turned on the sink, his forehead against the counter as he tried to regain composure but was failing.

...his body felt hot.

"I bought a pregnancy test." Sasuke said in his even tone, trying to control his breathing as he finally pushed himself away from the counter. He turned towards the blonde, his dark eyes narrow, his face pale in the dim light of the kitchen, "I already fucking told you but you don't believe me." Sasuke stalked towards the fox, brushing right past him as his stomach was stable…for now. He walked towards the entry way, intent on leaving. "Whatever Naruto, I'll leave. Don't think I'm ever going to come back."

Sasuke slammed the sliding door open; there was nothing more Sasuke could say.

Naruto didn't believe him.

That was that.

…where was he going?

No clue; he just knew he had to get away before he broke down, the hurt in his chest heightened by his sickness…and well, the pregnancy he guessed in general.

He just wanted to scream at the dumb ass fox; punch sense into him, but he didn't do any of those things.

Sasuke just kept walking, intent on leaving the house grounds.

Maybe all this would blow over tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow the stupid ass would come seeking him out; apologize, and maybe they'd figure out this weird turn of events.

Naruto's brows furrowed further.

This...didn't make sense.

Turning back towards the door he opened it up and started after Sasuke. "Hold on!" He snapped as he started after his lover once more. "You can't get pregnant." Naruto pointed out as he reached out to grab Sasuke's arm. "So why are you buying a pregnancy test?"

Sasuke started as Naruto grabbed his arm, forcing him to face the blonde, his head inclined up just slightly to meet the taller man's eyes.

This was frustrating.

Was Naruto deaf?

Sasuke didn't fight Naruto's hold, almost wanting to just fall into the blonde's chest and be held.

..it was weird.

He felt so strange; and the thought of a living thing inside of him was just too weird. "You said I turned into a female." He murmured his dark eyes on their feet, his cheeks flushed from sickness as well as tense upset as he tried to curb his anger.

...but by killing his anger and irritation he started to feel hurt; unsure if he could keep composure if Naruto told him to get out again, he just didn't feel strong enough to take that harsh anger again.

"Sakura said something about me being pregnant." He forced himself to continue, "She was joking...but I don't normally get sick, and I've only been throwing up." Sasuke weakly tried to tug his arm out of Naruto's hold, "I bought one." He didn't look up at the blonde, hiding under his mess of bangs, his throat feeling horribly dry. "It...was positive." Sasuke shook his head adding quickly, "Doesn't matter, you don't believe me. Let me go."

Naruto didn't let up on his grip on Sasuke's arm, his eyes focused on the flush along Sasuke's cheeks, the uncertain look in his dark orbs.

He was racking his memory of that night.

Had he really been stupid enough to finish inside of Sasuke that night?

He had.

Shit.

But, sexy-no-jutsu was suppose to be an illusionary technique he made up...wasn't it?

"You're absolutely sure it was positive." The fox said slowly, his eyes uncertain now.

Had he really gotten Sasuke pregnant?

Sasuke wrenched his arm out of Naruto's hold, his eyes narrow as anger flushed away his hurt, pain, and uncertainty. "Fuck off." Sasuke snapped, "You're impossible you stupid ass!" Sasuke tried to storm away from the blonde intent on leaving out the gate -- walking to get lost in the city, or perhaps going further than that if able.

Naruto didn't let Sasuke get far, he ran ahead of his lover, and set his hands on his shoulders, holding them tightly.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" He narrowed his eyes. "You're...pregnant." He tried to wrap his mind around the phrase. "You bought a pregnancy test, because you changed into sexy-no-jutsu and got pregnant." He had a confused almost disbelieving look on his face, "And it was positive?"

It still didn't make sense.

"...Ok, okay, lets say -- No…ok, I believe you…I do...I think." Naruto shook his head, this was so confusing. "...If this is true...then...shouldn't we go to Tsunade or something?" he asked, "Just to really confirm it?"

"Really confirm it?" Sasuke frowned; irritated that Naruto was holding him, staring down at him with his disbelieving eyes. "Since you still think I slept with some whore." Sasuke snapped, "In between work, building that addition to the house, and fucking you!" Sasuke was fuming, trying to break the contact between them again, wanting to go somewhere that wasn't near Naruto.

Naruto shook Sasuke's shoulder, "I said I believed you bastard!" He yelled back. "Fuck." Naruto swore in exasperation, "Neither of us knows what's wrong with you! By going to her we can figure it out! Alright?!"

..Maybe he had gone a little over board.

"I'm sorry!"

Doesn't know what's wrong with him?

Sasuke knew what was wrong.

He was pregnant and he had a retard boyfriend.

Sasuke averted his eyes, irritated that the blonde was still holding him -- that he had been unable to get away. "...whatever." Sasuke snapped in defeat, not wanting to deal with this anymore; already feeling like he should lie down. "We'll do whatever _you_ want." He said in an edged tone, his dark eyes sharp.

He'd really fucked up big time.

Naruto nodded slowly, and carefully loosened his fingers from around Sasuke's shoulders, before he drew the man close to him. "I am sorry." Naruto murmured again as he cupped his lover's flushed cheeks. "I just..." He paused, his mind tell him this wasn't the right time to talk about it. He never finished his sentence as he let out a long sigh and finally let go of Sasuke, his eyes downcast. "I'll call Tsunade."

He felt Naruto's fingers on his jaw, pulling his face up, Sasuke's sharp eyes gazing up at Naruto's anguished blue orbs before the blonde parted from him.

…for the better.

Sasuke wasn't sure if he wanted to punch him or kiss him really.

Sasuke stood in the center of the garden, arms wrapped around his own middle, his head bowed as he stared at his feet.

Naruto moved quietly back into the house, never looking back at Sasuke as he padded up the steps and into the living room.

The strong smell of vomit hit his nose and he made a small face, once again cursing his strong sense.

Reaching for the phone he easily dialed the Godaime's number, and asked for her to come over when she could.

Hanging up, Naruto went into the kitchen and grabbed a plastic glass...he still feared Sasuke would throw glass at him again, and filled it with cold water, before he moved back out to the porch, setting it down on the wood, his eyes lingering on Sasuke's back for a brief moment before he moved back into the house to clean up the sink.

He needed to keep moving, he had to process all the emotions that had been riled up in him, and the facts Sasuke had given him. Pulling the orange scarf, from his Anbu days, around his neck and up and over his nose, the fox turned the water to the sink back on, a gallon of bleach sitting on the counter next to him.

Tsunade could either confirm or deny this.

Sasuke brought his knees to his chest, his chin atop them as he ignored the glass of water.

..Naruto still didn't believe him.

He saw it in the way he looked at him; a piece of him was still reserved, still thinking that when Tsunade came his anger would have been justified. Sasuke was saddened by that fact; feeling emotion too well, blaming it on the developing child in him. Sasuke sighed, his eyes slipping closed as he tried to relax on the porch.

--

Ten minutes later Tsunade was walking through the gate, down the path -- spotting the Uchiha on the porch. Naruto hadn't really said much about why she needed to come over other than the fact that it was urgent.

Originally she thought Sasuke's mind might've been acting up again; but the morose Uchiha on the porch dispelled that fear. "Sasuke." She said curtly, hands in her pockets as she glanced into the dark home wondering where Naruto was.

Naruto watched as Tsunade's golden eyes cast his way and he sighed, having just finished cleaning out the sink. Capping the bleach he pulled the scarf off of his face and started towards the porch, keeping his distance from Sasuke, and leaning against the door frame.

"…he's been sick." Naruto started his voice quiet. "..He might be..." He shifted uncomfortably, "He might be pregnant."

It still sounded so weird.

A piece of him still didn't believe it.

"He used Sexy-no-jutsu almost a month ago." He added, "One thing led to another…" He tried to hint at what happened, knowing the older medic would figure it out.

Naruto was only leaning on the doorframe; but it felt like he was a mile away.

Sasuke avoided looking at the blonde, avoided looking at Tsunade as he peered out across the expanse of garden towards their circle of flowers.

Tsunade quirked a brow just slightly as she gazed at Naruto then Sasuke.

Naruto seemed a little tense, uncertain.

Sasuke looked withdrawn, agitated.

Hm…

Did Naruto not want Sasuke pregnant or something?

This was still very; very strange but the quicker she wrapped her mind around it and let it go the easier the situation would be.

Despite everything she was still slightly scared of the Uchiha, and quite frankly, she didn't want to blow up about this little fact she just found out, not knowing what Sasuke might do.

Tsunade rolled up her sleeves, kneeling in front of the brunette, "Okay. This'll feel kind of weird." She smiled to the Uchiha, trying to calm him but Sasuke's expression didn't change. She lifted her hands, a blue glow at the tips of her fingers as she pressed them up against Sasuke's stomach.

The Uchiha felt a weird tingling all over him, his dark eyes momentarily alarmed before he met the reassuring gold.

He felt cold and hot all at once; and then it was gone, just like that.

Tsunade crouched back, looking to the Anbu then up to the Hokage-sama. "He's a month along, maybe a little less." It was weird to say, but it was true, she felt it. "You should know you're own jutsu better Naruto." She attempted to joke; but Sasuke didn't seem to be in the mood.

"I'm going to lie down." The Uchiha said in a clipped tone, getting up from the porch and stalking in to the home -- pointedly avoiding Naruto's eyes as he brushed right past him.

Naruto could only stare dumbfounded at the woman, hardly noticing Sasuke pass him by.

She...she was serious?

"What?" Naruto stepped forwards, "You're serious?" He narrowed his eyes. "It's an illusion technique! This...this isn't possible!"

Tsunade frowned, the tension between the Uzumaki and Uchiha evident yet she wasn't entirely sure why. "You asked me to come here." She said in a serious tone, "You asked me to check and see if there was something up with Sasuke's sickness, that he might be pregnant." Tsunade rolled her eyes, "I don't lie Naruto, I told you the truth, what's wrong with you? Why are you so upset over it?" She narrowed her eyes slightly, "You did it; don't go getting pissed at anyone else over it." She made her own assumption that the fox might be taking it out on Sasuke -- she didn't have the full story; so it was just what it appeared to her.

"Because this -- what the hell!" The fox grabbed at his hair and leaned back against the wall sliding down so he could rest on the floor. "How can an illusion make someone pregnant! I don't get it!" He exclaimed, "I know what I did that night, but I didn't think that he'd actually get pregnant!" He shook his head, the tight feeling in his chest starting to overwhelm him, "I just..." He sniffled slightly, his head bowed, one hand dropping from his hair, "I didn't mean to do this to him..."

Tsunade's gold eyes softened as she looked down to the blonde, kneeling in front of him as the kitsune started to break down. She reached out, gently taking the Hokage-sama into a firm motherly hug. "You can't change anything now." She slowly started to release him, "Sasuke needs you, you two will be fine. You need to talk about this."

Naruto shook his head in her shoulder, "I'm not going to be able to go near him for a week, let along talk to him."

He had jumped straight to conclusions and hadn't let his lover talk.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Sasuke had been waiting for him.

He had had something in his hands when Naruto got home.

Tsunade sighed softly, "Then you have a whole week to think about what you're first words to him will be." She gently let the blonde go, her eyes soft, her smile sincere, "But I'm sure he'll come around before then."

Naruto snorted and looked away.

He knew she was right.

But he also knew Sasuke better than anyone else.

"...yeah." He murmured before he forced himself away from her and to stand. "Thank you...for coming by."

--

Sasuke had buried himself in the covers in their shared bed, the pillows stacked behind his head as he tried to make himself comfortable.

Stupid Naruto…

Stupid being pregnant...

Naruto didn't want him to be, did he?

Not that Sasuke wanted himself to be.

But, now that he was, the fox didn't seem so happy about it, at all.

Sasuke had a frown, an uncertain look to his eyes that immediately became masked the moment he heard the door open. His cat-like eyes glinted in the dim light as he regarded the blonde, his mouth a thin line, not wanting to be the one to say the first word.

Naruto almost hesitated in the doorway, the glass almost sloshing as he paused. Quietly, he walked into the bedroom, his heart heavy. He knew he had some serious kissing up to do. He knew he had screwed up. Naruto carefully set the glass on the nightstand before he moved away from the bed to his dresser; he needed to change, and to grab clothes for tomorrow.

Sasuke eyed the kitsune with his same sharp look; clearly pissed, but he had good reason to be.

…doubting him.

Prick.

Sasuke wordlessly kicked a pillow off the bed, letting it land uselessly on the floor.

Naruto wasn't welcome in bed with him.

Not for a long, long while.

The fox closed the drawer quietly, clothes already in hand. He heard a soft thump on the floor, and knew it was his pillow.

He'd been expecting that.

Closing his eyes he took his a quiet breath before he moved over to his side of the bed to pick it up. Letting it eyes flicker up to Sasuke's he caught the sharp, angry eyes and tried to give him a soft smile.

_I love you..._

Standing, Naruto walked out of the room, and down the hall, bypassing the spare bedroom.

He deserved much lower, he deserved the couch, if not the porch, but he didn't' think his back would agree with that, it wouldn't like the couch, but the porch…

Maybe for one night.

The fox slipped outside, and dropped his pillow onto the wood, using his Hokage robe as a blanket. Easily programming his cell phone's alarm, he set it by his head and hoped he'd get some sleep.

...he deserved this.

--

We've got mixed messages on the Sasuke pregnancy.

Some people don't like that he's a little shorter and less bulkier than Naruto and on top of it pregnant.

I find it amusing, a reason why we did it.

Sasuke is so controlling and dominant and yet he's a little shorter, less muscled, and now knocked up. I think it's a nice slap to his ego and actually it matters to this story, you'll see.

No, Sasuke is not an Uke.

Sometimes, like in this one case, he'll be dominated but he's normally never on bottom if he can help it. I'm not straying away from it just because he's pregnant, he's not turning into a whiny girl, he's still Sasuke even though he's carrying a child.

As for realism; I don't care.

Sexy no Jutsu will not make you a woman, duh.

I know Naruto's body might be better with Kyuubi or something, blah blah, but we're not really caring about that right now. It doesn't have to make perfect sense; I mean in all honesty, this is an Anime I'm writing about.

That being said, I do hope everyone is still liking the sequel despite how upset everyone seemed to be getting. I hope you leave a review and tell me what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Five'

Sasuke had felt himself start to wake up, not feeling sick for once, but he hadn't started moving quite yet. Sasuke rolled to the edge of the bed, his sleepy black eyes on the door noticing that it was still shut and Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

...good.

He had stayed out there.

Sasuke flicked his eyes to the clock, briefly taking in the time before he forced himself out of bed and out of the bedroom. Sleepily he walked down the hall, peeking into the guest room -- then Naruto's office; looking to the couch and then finally outside.

Naruto wasn't home.

Even better.

Sasuke nodded to himself as he slid the door to the garden shut, walking back towards the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast.

--

Naruto had been getting strange looks from Shikamaru all day.

He knew that the shadow user was too observant for his own good, but the man never said anything to the tired slump about the fox, or how he was constantly trying to stretch a kink out of his back.

The day dragged on and on.

Meeting upon meeting took up his time, new war plans, and envoys to the Rock Country to try and figure out what had happened, setting up new boundaries and getting the ninja back into action. He had taken Sasuke out of the unit, explaining that the sickness was more severe than what they had imagined and wouldn't be back until he was given a clean bill of health from the Godaime. But that meant he would have no Anbu-Captain for the next eight months. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes, which ultimately meant, he'd have to go out on a few S-ranked missions.

...Great.

He had stack upon stack of new reports coming in, more Rock county ambushes along the northern border.

He almost debated about sleeping in the strategy room, but he knew he needed to go home. Taking the stack of scrolls, papers and files with him; the fox trekked back to his home, where he was hardly welcomed.

Slipping around to the porch, he went into to his office the back way, leaving the pile on the desk, before he closed the door to the porch and moved out into the hall way to change into some fresh clothes.

He spotted Sasuke in the living room, his back to him.

As he moved around in the bedroom, he noticed the glass of water from the night before hadn't been touch. He should have expected that to happen. Sighing, he walked over to it and went into the bathroom for a quick shower and to dump the warm water.

Almost ten minutes later, he was in fresh clothes, and had a cold glass of water with him once more.

He needed to do more than give his lover water. Setting the glass next to Sasuke, he moved into the kitchen and wordlessly started going about making some onigiri, making sure to add some of Sasuke's favorites to the back. It was a silent process and he wasn't expecting much in return, or for it even to be eaten, but he set the plate in front of his lover, before he started out of the room, and back outside. He needed to work on that room.

--

Hours passed, and it was well into the night by the time Naruto walked stiffly back into the house via the back door. He didn't look around for Sasuke, knowing nothing would be said between them. Moving towards his office, the fox slid the door open, and switched the desk lamp on before he settled into his chair and pulled out the first of many scrolls.

It would be a long, long night.

Sasuke had fallen asleep on the couch that night; the plate of onigiri had been eaten, the water had been drank.

The Uchiha had fallen asleep after he laid out -- watching the ceiling and trying to sort out all these thoughts and emotions.

Sasuke was oblivious to time, though his body was craned awkwardly on their small sofa, a slight chill falling on him due to the lack of blankets.

Naruto's sharp ears picked up the small sound of someone shifting and looked up from the report.

…Wasn't Sasuke in the bedroom?

Slowly licking his lips, he set the report down and got up from the chair and cautiously started back to the living room, where the sound had originated from. Looking around the corner, he spotted Sasuke, asleep. Letting out a long sigh, the fox walked back down the hall, he opened the bedroom door and moved over to the bed, he rested his hands on Sasuke's side, channeling some chakra to his hands to warm the sheets, before he threw them back.

Walking back towards the living room, the fox knelt down in front of his lover, and carefully scooped him into his arms. He moved slowly and carefully so he wouldn't wake Sasuke. Slipping through the doorway, the fox maneuvered over to the bed and easily rested the Uchiha down into the pre-warmed sheets, before he quietly covered him with the blankets, making sure to tuck the corners in the way Sasuke usually had them.

Pulling away, he walked back out to the living room, his eyes spotting the empty glass and plate. He smiled gently before he moved to clean up those dishes, setting them in the sink, before he reached for a new glass, filling it, and moving back to the bedroom once more. Quietly setting the glass down on the night stand, he gazed at Sasuke's sleeping face, and resisted the urge to brush back the dark bangs.

"I love you." Naruto whispered so gently that the words could have been caught with the wind. Turning, he left the room, closing the door behind him to go back to his office, to try and finish the reports before he went back into the office in a few hours.

--

The weeks had dragged on…

Sasuke was becoming a bit more moody than normal, but the sickness had finally passed. The Uchiha always woke up alone; the house always empty until late in the afternoon when Naruto would trudge home again.

Right now the blonde was in his office.

As usual.

Sasuke finally walked towards the blonde's room, opening the office and peeking his head inside. He ignored Naruto's gaze as the blonde looked up at him, remaining only in the doorway -- keeping his distance.

"Hokage-sama." Sasuke said in a detached tone; not holding the usual purr as he addressed his lover by his title, "What's going on between the villages? I haven't been called on any missions."

Sasuke wasn't aware Naruto had taken him off his squad.

Merely assuming that they were taking it slow, maybe feeling out in case of another ambush or something.

Naruto almost groaned at the tone and words Sasuke had used to address him. He was tired of this, but not matter what he did, Sasuke's anger still hadn't dissipated.

Now he was asking about missions?

Might as well sleep at the tower now.

Naruto slowly licked his lips, "I took you off the squad." He informed quietly, his eyes slowly meeting the black orbs. "Almost a month ago." He breathed quietly, and even, just waiting for the anger to start once more.

Sasuke's brows furrowed as Naruto spoke in an even tone, almost dismissing him as his eyes just stared at him.

...off the squad?

Sasuke frowned, "I don't need to be taken off the squad." He murmured in a low tone, "I can still do my duties just fine." Sasuke took it as a personal blow -- perhaps because when he had suffered from sickness before he had been injured.

...but it hadn't been bad.

He had killed the Rock ninja; he was still perfectly fine. Sasuke didn't want to be stuck in this house; it felt so tense and almost foreboding since there was such a rift between him and Naruto now.

Naruto rubbed his tired eyes and let out a sigh, before he dropped his hand, "Sasuke, you're carrying our child." He reminded, his voice betraying how he really felt.

Scared, tired, and sad.

"You know the regulations for the Anbu, the moment one finds out that they are carrying a child they are removed from the squad for maternity leave, you are no exception." He reminded.

Why did Sasuke choose now of all times to be stubborn about this?

Sasuke kept his frown; he knew the regulations, but somehow…

...well, he was a man.

He didn't look pregnant.

No one would know he was pregnant; only his village, not the enemy so he wouldn't be viewed as a weak spot.

Whatever.

He'd fight about this later, for some reason the irritation had bit him again and he shut the door on Naruto's office and stalked off into the living room.

Naruto sighed heavily and let his aching head fall into his palm.

He figured that would be how Sasuke reacted.

He might as well go back to the tower now.

Grabbing his bag, he started to pack up the paperwork and grabbed the spare clothes he had thrown on the spare chair. Standing, he heard his back pop in about six different places, he winced slightly, and caught himself on the desk before he could fully double over.

A month and a half on the porch floor and sleeping hunched over his desk was not good for him. Forcing the muscles to stretch the fox slipped his sandals on and opened the back door to the porch and stepped out into the night.

Maybe the couch in his office would be nicer to him.

--

Sasuke had stayed in their room a long while trying to mull everything over in his head -- his own defense to try and get back on the squad.

...but when he had walked back down the hall Naruto's office was empty; the kitsune gone.

Sasuke frowned, his irritation ebbing back into that sad longing; he wanted this to be over, to be fixed.

But…

Sasuke was a stubborn creature and he held a grudge like nobody's business.

He sighed, slowly closing the door to the kit's office as he made his way back to their empty bed; intent on getting some sleep.

--

Naruto was at his desk when Shikamaru came back in at almost four in the morning, hunched over, going over maps, and trying to strategize a new layout for the teams. His dull eyes were hazy as he stared at the maps, only a few spots marked; his mind wasn't focusing the way it needed to. He rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily, reaching for the coffee mug, taking a long sip of it, hoping the liquid would start to work. He glanced up as Shikamaru neared him, "More reports?" He asked.

"Mm." Shikamaru murmured as he placed the new stack on Naruto's desk.

…he looked like hell.

"What's going on?"

It was clear by now to anyone that Naruto and Sasuke had to be fighting. The blonde didn't smile, he didn't have that normal energy, nor did he look well rested.

...something was up.

Shikamaru tucked his hands in his pockets his concerned brown eyes on his friend.

"We're at war with the Rock County again." Naruto reached for the new reports, his eyes on the words as he moved them under the light to read. He could feel his back protest slightly, but ignored it for now.

He couldn't fix his life at home; He might as well try and fix the county.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "That's not what I was talking about." The brunette kept his frown, "Are you at war with Sasuke?" It might not be his business, but Konoha needed an alert well-rested leader -- not this zombie.

Sasuke and Naruto needed to fix things.

The Rock country was drawing in on them.

"What makes you think that?" The fox asked as he switched papers, still not looking to his friend, his mind trying to focus on the words before him. "He's sick."

"Sick?"

Naruto looked like he could crash any minute; his eyes were slightly red, his muscles all tense when he tried to rifle through the papers on his desk.

"Is he dying?" Shikamaru drawled, unsure why such a sickness would pull the captain off his squad for over a month and leave Naruto in this vegetative state.

"Psh." The fox snorted and set the papers down, his eyes wandering back to the map. Those few places he had picked were already bad now. "Who knows, he doesn't talk anymore." He picked the copy of the map up and tore it in half before he reach around for another one, this time not being able to stop the small flinch. Rolling his shoulder, he sighed and brought the map back over to the light and started to focus on it again.

That was weird.

Doesn't talk?

Naruto had said it so easily; reaching for the papers he had noticed the spasm of pain on his features before he went back to checking maps. "Did..." Shikamaru's eyes tried to read the blonde's face but it was difficult. "…you two break up or something?"

"Knowing him." Naruto started as he picked up the ink pen and moved to circle a new hide out. "Probably." He answered honestly.

He'd been doing everything but trying to talk to the Uchiha to try and fix things.

He had been waiting for Sasuke's anger to leave, but after last night…

"I just don't know it yet."

He set the pen down and glared at the map.

That spot was wrong too.

Damn it!

Standing up straight the fox's back spasmed, the same bones cracking as they had before. Gritting his teeth, Naruto caught himself on the desk, his fingers flexing as if they were claws into the map, smearing the wet ink.

Shit!

Shikamaru's expression was unguarded a moment as the Hokage-sama spoke so freely; almost uncaring. Then as the fox got up the sound of bones cracking hit his ears and the blonde fell heavily onto his desk.

"...Naruto?" Shikamaru murmured, unsure what to do with himself to make it better. "You need to go home. Go and rest." Shikamaru said in a serious tone, "I can look over these maps and reports."

"No, I'm fine!" Naruto snapped, but his muscles wouldn't relax. "Fuck, just call Sakura." He ordered, forcing himself back into his chair, as the pain wouldn't leave.

God, that one had hurt too...

He was just going to get another earful now.

"Just, go call Sakura." He said in a more subdued tone.

Shikamaru had left the room, intent on calling the medic ninja; having something up his sleeve to get Naruto out of the office and home.

"Sakura?"

Shikamaru was quiet a moment, "Naruto is going through...something, I don't know what. He isn't sleeping; and his back just snapped."

Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, "No, not broken, just popped loudly. Just listen: come here and fix him a little, but only enough because I want you to give him an order to be bed ridden."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "No, I don't care. Just come over, he's just troublesome when he's not in good condition. More work for me."

With that the brunette hung up, knowing Sakura would be able to send Naruto home -- a few days off would do him good and maybe whatever issues he and Sasuke were having would be resolved.

Naruto focused on just breathing as he waited for Sakura to come. He had an urge to try and cause himself worse pain to try and distract himself from the pain he was already in, but knew that would only get him in more trouble. He rubbed at his sweat-grit forehead harshly and slowly, just trying to force the pain back. He glanced up as the door was open.

Sakura…

Letting out a long sigh, he dropped his hand and just gazed at her. "I'm broken again." Naruto murmured almost in a childish tone.

Sakura sighed softly, moving around the blonde as she set her hands on his spine feeling the taut muscle. "...what am I going to do with you?" She murmured affectionately as she focused chakra in her hands -- working to ease the ache, but not completely get rid of it.

He wouldn't feel pain right now; but he might again in a few hours or so, but if all went well maybe Sasuke would take care of him.

She eased the muscles, roaming her hands down his spine -- her digits warm with chakra. "You're going to have to stay in bed a few days, rest." Sakura murmured, "You're muscles feel really horrible."

"Sakura, you know I can't do that." He moaned, letting his head drop so it was against his folded arms. "The Rock's moving faster than before, I don't have time to rest." He resisted the urge to let out a slight moan as the pain was alleviated. "Can't you just come back in a few hours and do this again?" He whined as he glanced back at her.

Sakura smacked the back of the blonde's head playfully, "No." She walked out from behind him, rounding so she was in front of his desk. "Shikamaru already said he'll take over you're work. So, all you need to do is go home and rest." Sakura's green eyes focused on the kitsune, "I mean it. You go home and rest for at least three days before you come back here."

Naruto almost glared at the woman, this was not what he had planned. "...Fine." Moving his arms out from under his head, Naruto set his palms against his desk and slowly pushed himself back up.

He'd have to sleep in the guest room now.

"I'm going home. But you can be the one to explain it all to Sasuke when we get there." He grumbled.

If he was suppose to be on bed rest, then that's what he'd do.

He left everything on his desk just the way it was as he stepped out from around the corner and started to walked towards the door.

Very few people were in the tower now. It was just passed four fifteen in the morning.

The walk back home hadn't been so bad, but it felt like it took forever. He dreaded having to be there, having to feel those angry eyes one him for three days. As the walked into the house, making little noise, Naruto left Sakura in the living room and started towards the guest room.

"Just leave him a note or something, he'll find it, eventually." With that, he disappeared into the room, letting his robe fall to the floor, his shirt following, then his shoes and pants. Carefully he crawled into the cold bed, lying on his front so he wouldn't put pressure on his back.

He didn't feel tired, but it was strange.

The moment he settled down and closed his eyes, he fell asleep almost instantly.

--

A/N:

Sorry it took forever for me to update. Been dealing with personal things, so fanfiction had taken second priority. However, I finally got this chapter out and I would like to know what you guys thought of it. Please leave us a review and I'll have another chapter out soon.


	6. Chapter 6

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Six'

Sasuke had woken up at around ten or so, wandering around the home in his usual lazy stride as he was almost positive Naruto wasn't present. It was then he caught sight of the note on the couch -- the elegant almost girlish scrawl hinted that Naruto hadn't written this.

It was a note from Sakura; guidelines to Naruto's apparent bed rest.

...he injured his back?

Sasuke frowned a little, unsure what he was feeling as he set the innocent paper back down on the couch.

Sakura gave him instructions to massage Naruto's back everyday.

Hmph.

Sasuke wasn't sure what his intentions were -- but he found himself walking towards the guest room, slowly opening the door and looking to the fox that was laid out on his stomach.

Sasuke's face was still in a lazy scowl but he made his way to the bed, silently sitting on the edge of it and depressing it slightly.

Before he knew what he was doing his hands had found the small of Naruto's back kneading the flesh he found almost mechanically but he couldn't help the pleasant shiver that went down his spine as his fingers caressed Naruto's warm skin.

...it had been nearly two months since they had been intimate; over a month since they had said more than snappy words to each other.

…what was happening to them?

Sasuke let his eyes slip shut as he let out a quiet sigh, focusing solely on kneading the tight muscles of the blonde's back -- trying to banish all other thought.

Naruto groaned as he felt something pressing down into his back and shifted slightly.

It was uncomfortable, a deep aching pain..

Letting out a slightly whimper, his eyes flickered open, the blood shot orbs hazy as they caught sight of Sasuke.

What was he doing here..?

"...not so hard." He managed out as he tried not to shift out from under the warm hand. His eyes fluttered closed once more; sweat starting to break out on his skin.

Sasuke flushed slightly, apparently lost in thought he had put too much pressure on his lover's spine. Sasuke eased the movement, almost just feeling along his back with the soft pressure he applied; digits kissing along Naruto's glazed warm flesh. Sasuke's bangs shielded his eyes as he gazed down to Naruto's spine, wanting to say something but no words came out.

The fox's breathing picked up as he woke up more, the pain becoming more apparent in him, now that he didn't have reports or charts to distract him.

He could feel his body trembling slightly as his back spasmed.

But the lack of words was hurting him more than his back ever could.

Somehow he managed to reach back for his lovers hand and forced himself to roll on his side so he could face Sasuke. His shaking fingers slowly wrapped around that hand and slowly dragged it up his bare chest, resting the palm over his heavily beating heart. He stared up at the dark eyes intently. "...'m sorry." He whispered.

Sasuke's palm was flush against the blonde's chest, feeling the frantic beat. Sasuke's dark eyes stared right back into Naruto's bright blue; those whispered words causing his tough shell to finally crack. Sasuke leaned forward -- firmly planting his lips against the blonde's; marveling at the feel of the silky velvet he hadn't tasted in god knows how long. Sasuke parted from the blonde, just looking at him with those same unguarded eyes, "..I love you."

Naruto's eyes closed tightly as he tried to wrap his arms around Sasuke's waist, his face in his lovers lap as he tried not to cry. "I'm sorry..." He apologized again. He didn't think he would be able to say it enough in his life time. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke lifted his hand, letting his fingers thread through the blonde's locks -- hearing the anguished apology over and over; it almost sounded like Naruto was going to cry. Sasuke let his eyes slide shut, his lips brushing over Naruto's temple as he tried to let himself relax. "Why did you doubt me?" He said in a soft tone; continuing his gentle ministrations, the edge not in his voice.

Naruto slowly shook his head; he didn't understand why he had doubted Sasuke either. But the technique was just suppose to be illusionary, and the news that Sasuke had become pregnant...scared him.

"I was so shocked." He started, his voice soft, "I didn't know that it was possible for...this to happen." Naruto slowly opened his eyes, gazing up at Sasuke. "Then I heard the rumors and...I don't know..." He shook his head again, once more trying to bury himself in his lover.

Sasuke continued to gaze down at his lover; his dark eyes betraying nothing as his fingers continued to glide through the soft spikes of the blonde's hair.

"Do you..." Sasuke flushed slightly, a frown tugging his lips, "...not want me to be? Was...that why?"

It was weird bringing it up; but it was a fear Sasuke had during the weeks they hadn't been speaking.

…he wondered if Naruto wanted this.

Maybe that was also the reason he had been so harsh to Naruto. He didn't want to bring it up; almost didn't want to know.

Naruto was quiet for a long while, he had never thought of that before.

Sasuke being pregnant…it wasn't his first choice, that was for sure, but...

The thought of one them carrying a child, a child created between the two of them...that, that wasn't so bad.

"…No." He murmured gently, but certainly. "No, it's fine, now…now that I think about it." He glanced up to the dark eyes, "It's just...weird."

Weird.

Damn right it was weird.

"Try to be in my position." Sasuke murmured in a lazy drawl, letting out a quiet sigh.

...he never thought he'd ever get pregnant in his life; ever.

He was a male.

This whole ordeal was strange.

Well…his clan was getting revived.

Sasuke didn't find the irony in it, stopping the thought as he gazed off towards the window at the bright rising sun.

Naruto watched Sasuke carefully still unsure if he was angry with him. "...Are you still mad with me?" He asked gently, almost as if he were a child once more, being scolded. He knew that Sasuke was a stubborn creature, but since he was in the spare bedroom with him, did that mean he was partly forgiven?

Sasuke was quiet a long moment, looking out the window as the splashes of orange and pinks filtered across the small space. He slowly turned his bright obsidian eyes on the blonde, holding his head in his hands almost tenderly. "..No." Sasuke murmured softly, "I'm not mad at you."

Naruto felt a weight lift from his chest, one he hadn't realized had been dragging him down faster than any of the others. The fox smiled and somehow managed to force himself to sit up and wrap his arms around his lover, just holding him to his chest. "I love you."

Sasuke allowed Naruto to hold him, forehead against his shoulder; his dark eyes shut as he let himself melt into Naruto's embrace. He inhaled Naruto's scent greedily, his arms wrapped easily around the blonde's waist. "I know." Sasuke murmured in his usual manner, kissing the kit's jaw lazily.

…he missed him.

He missed this.

They stayed like that for along time, just holding each other. Naruto just reveled in the warmth and solid body before him, ignoring everything else around him, or in him.

Sasuke was pregnant.

That was fact.

He was carrying their child.

He'd be a father.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes after a long while, and started to shift back, but stopped… "Sasu..." He moaned out, almost pathetically. "I broke again..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, easing the blonde back down on the bed. "What am I going to do with you?" He said in a calm tone, an affectionate smirk on his lips as his fingers ghosted gently down the blonde's spine.

Naruto's eyes closed as he was laid back onto his stomach. Sighing, he shook his head. Part of him still felt like he deserved to sleep out on the porch for betraying his lover's trust. The other half wanted Sasuke to pamper him. "...I don't know what to do with me."

Sasuke's eyed Naruto's knitted brows; knowing the kitsune was probably in pain. He had been sleeping outside for about a month now and Naruto's back tended to be rather sensitive. Sasuke leaned down to the fox, kissing the shell of his ear tenderly, "What can I do to make it better?" He said in a low purr, his fingers still gently roaming down Naruto's tense spine.

Hot, naked, cuddling bath and a rub down?

The fox tried to relax under his lovers touch, smiling gently, "What you're doing is good..." He murmured, his eyes fluttering shut.

Sasuke slowly pulled back from the blonde, his hands slipping down his shirt -- palms flat against the warm skin as he gently massaged his tense back. "Just tell me what you want..." Sasuke said softly, his own little apology for being so stubborn; though the blonde did need to be reprimanded for the things he had said -- jumping to such a rash conclusion.

...but maybe he did over-do it a bit.

Naruto's muscles were really tight.

Naruto moaned softly and shifted ever so slightly in discomfort. "I trust you." He breathed out; Sasuke had magic fingers when it came to this. "You'll fix me."

Sasuke continued to draw his hands down Naruto's back, kneading the flesh gently as he tried to get the knots out -- but aware at how tender the man was.

...hm.

Sasuke shifted his weight on the bed, moving to pick up the kitsune in his arms -- careful of his back as he walked down the hall with his lover. "A bath will relax you're muscles." Sasuke said, his black eyes flicking to the blonde's expression before he pushed the bathroom door open. Gently he set Naruto down on the toilet, moving to run the taps -- intent on getting the water warm and comfortable for them; it would be easier to massage his back if he didn't start out so completely tense.

Naruto tried to relax back against the cold porcelain, breathing evenly as he watched Sasuke move around the bathroom.

"You don't have to do this..." He murmured, he still felt like he didn't deserve it.

Couldn't Sasuke just fish out one of their old pain killers?

Sasuke frowned a little, "I want to." Sasuke pulled off his shirt, his dark eyes on the blonde as he noticed Naruto's guarded expression.

...he wasn't sure why he was looking like that.

He said he loved him.

He had said sorry.

...so why was he trying to withdraw again.

It was the truth...wasn't it?

Sasuke let his pants fall to the ground; naked he walked to the blonde, hands on his thighs as he gazed intently at Naruto's bright blue eyes as if looking for something. "You'll feel good." The Uchiha murmured in a low tone, his expression slack as he became a little uncertain of Naruto's strange mood. "C'mon." The brunette lifted Naruto's shirt off his back, tossing it to the small pile on the floor.

Naruto still was unsure...

Sighing, he used the counter to get himself up off of the closed toilet, so he could slip out of his boxers. The two managed to get into the bath tub. Naruto leaning back into Sasuke's chest slouched down so the water came up to his collar bones. Letting his eyes close, he tried to relax, "...you're being way too nice to me."

Sasuke's expression was soft as the blonde leaned into him, his hands moving across his sore shoulders; kneading the irritated muscles as he moved down along his spine in a gentle pace.

Sasuke kissed the side of Naruto's head; down to his ear and finally just at the base of his neck before he leaned his head back just enjoying the feel of his lover against him. "I missed you."

As if that explained everything.

Naruto smirked gently, "I missed you too." The warm water was soothing, but it would be about twenty minutes before it really worked. "...I still deserve to sleep out on the couch."

"Maybe." Sasuke murmured easily, pulling the kitsune a little more firmly between his legs, his thighs holding against his sides. Sasuke's hands moved down to his lower back then back up again in those soft almost fleeting touches. "I'd like it if you slept in our room." He said in his usual low voice, his nose brushing along the arch of Naruto's neck; burying in the base of his hair as he inhaled his lover's lost scent.

...he smelled better than he had remembered.

Ugh.

More pregnancy things wasn't it?

Sasuke couldn't help it; his lips kissed the back of Naruto's neck and shoulders, savoring the feel of his lover's skin.

Naruto moaned softly at the feel of Sasuke's lips along his neck. "That would be nice." He breathed out.

He missed his bed.

The bed was big enough that both men could spread out in it and not touch if they wanted, but it was also soft enough that it would help his back.

"Hardwood floor is cold."

"It's settled then." Sasuke's lips were still pressed to his neck, his dark eyes hooded as he kept close to the blonde. Sasuke continued his ministrations on Naruto's spine, kneading his lower back a bit more firmly to get the kinks out -- the blonde arching a bit in response and giving Sasuke more neck to kiss.

Mm…

Sasuke kissed along his throat, his touches not needy; just tender and gentle.

Naruto let his head fall to the side, letting Sasuke's lips roam along his neck. "Shouldn't this be the other way around?" He moaned out, his back arching again as Sasuke's fingers hit a tender spot. He knew that this would be happening in a few months, he'd be the one to work on Sasuke back.

"Mm." Sasuke murmured, sucking at the skin of the blonde's neck in an almost lazy manner; just kneading the skin between his teeth. He slowly parted, his chin on the blonde's shoulder, his dark eyes looking up to the kit's profile.

...in a few months.

He'd be..,getting fat; he frowned. He'd be suffering from sore ankles and back pains and whatever the hell else.

He didn't fee like thinking about that right now.

He ignored Naruto's questioning statement, continuing to ease Naruto's injured muscles.

Naruto smirked at the answer.

"I know." He murmured, as if he could hear Sasuke's thoughts. Leaning back against his lover, he caught the pale hands within his own, and drawing them around his waist. "Our kid is going to be hella good looking."

Sasuke smirked into the blonde's shoulder, shifting so Naruto's weight was pillowed against him, his hands threaded with the fox's.

He let his eyes slipped shut, "...yeah."

Their child…

They were going to have a baby together.

As weird and crazy as it was…it still warmed Sasuke to his core; knowing a piece of Naruto and him was growing inside of his belly.

The fox smiled gently at the thought. He was sure any child that they produced would carry more Uchiha traits than Uzumaki. "You know." He started as he craned his neck to try and find Sasuke's eyes, "That new room we just built...maybe that could be the new nursery?"

Nursery?

Sasuke's black eyes flicked to the blonde's profile, "...sounds good."

Sasuke continued to hold the blonde, staring up at his expression. "What should we name it?"

It was still early, but it had been a thought in Sasuke's head.

The Uchiha hadn't been able to think of anything, unsure what the child's last name was going to be and unable to find something that flowed.

Naruto made a small face; he really hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "Girl or boy?" He asked back.

He had always had a name for a girl, but for a boy he wasn't too sure.

"Whichever." Sasuke murmured easily, his hands splayed on Naruto's belly, his body shifting and causing the water to lap at their figures.

"Nariko?" The fox offered, almost unsure if it would be okay.

Sasuke mulled the name over in his head, kissing the blonde's shoulder, "And for a boy Naruto jr?" Sasuke said this playfully of course; a smirk on his lips since the blonde was naming the female after himself basically.

Naruto chuckled and shook his head, "No." He shifted in the water, letting it slosh over them. "Maybe Sasuke jr."

"We need to think of better names." Sasuke confirmed, they had a long while to go before the baby popped up. "We need to finish the nursery too."

"I will." Naruto answered softly his eyes closing as he relaxed against Sasuke. "Do you want to know if it's a boy or girl before hand?"

Sasuke thought about what Naruto said a moment frowning to himself. "No." Sasuke said simply, "A surprise is fine."

Naruto nodded slowly, He had hoped that Sasuke would say that.

He wanted it to be a surprise as well.

"Sounds good." He was starting to get sleepy. "Can we paint the room orange?"

Sasuke noticed as Naruto relaxed; holding the male against him, gently running his hands along his back no longer in a massaging manner -- just in a soothing one. "No." Sasuke said simply, "Orange is not a good baby-color."

Naruto smirked at Sasuke's answer once more, he knew the orange would get shot down, but he had to try. "Yellow?" He suggested once more. "That's neutral."

Yellow..?

Sasuke tilted his head back on the wall of the tub, "...yellow is fine."

…they had quite a bit of work ahead of them.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. Yellow is like Orange." He snickered. He opened his eyes and glanced back up at his lover. "I'll work on it in my spare time."

"Yellow isn't like orange." Sasuke stifled a yawn as he started to feel the lethargic pull on him as well. The water was chilling now; not as warm and inviting as it once had been. "Orange is loud and annoying." He smirked a little, "Yellow is much more tolerable."

Naruto let out a small chuckle, "It's kinda like orange. It's the start of orange." He slowly sat up and leaned forward, slowly letting his muscles stretch. He groaned slightly, before he glanced back at his lover, turning in the water, he slid up between his lover's legs, and gently gripped Sasuke's face, leaning forwards to press his lips against Sasuke's.

Sasuke's arms wrapped around the blonde's middle, letting him slide forward over him as their lips pressed together. Sasuke kept the kiss slow at first, sucking his lower lip before his tongue roamed forward to taste the inside of Naruto's mouth. Sasuke moaned against their lips, sucking against Naruto's tongue before his muscle grazed the roof of the kitsune's mouth.

Naruto purred into the kiss, his wet hands slowly trailing down Sasuke's neck, his fingers lightly tickling the skin there.

He'd missed his lover so much in the last month.

Maybe these days off would be good for them.

Sasuke's neck arched, nipping gently at Naruto's lips, his legs spread as his lover stayed between them. Breaking the kiss the Uchiha trailed wet kisses down his jaw and neck -- his hand coming up to cup the back of the man's neck to force him to arch, giving the brunette more room.

Naruto groaned, his neck arching, his head tilting back, his eyes fluttering closed. His knees were propped up under Sasuke's thighs, their chests almost flush together.

Naruto felt so good…he had missed him.

Sasuke didn't mind the fact that his back was against the tub; that Naruto's knees had ultimately spread him. All he cared about was the feel of the blonde's skin, the sound of his moans, and his addictive taste as Sasuke bit along his collar and chest.

Naruto easily tipped Sasuke's head back, his thumb pushing up against Sasuke's jaw. His lips trailed down the pale skin, his teeth nipping at the arch of his neck.

"Ahn.." Sasuke purred in his throat as Naruto forcefully arched his head back, the Uchiha's eyes fluttering shut at the feel of lips and teeth on his sensitive neck. "Gods..." He panted, his hands grabbing firm at Naruto's hips trying to keep him in place.

Naruto let one hand slowly trail down Sasuke's body, his fingers ghosting down the pale skin. He moved his lips down to the junction point on Sasuke's neck and shoulder, giving it a firm bite, before he let his tongue run over the small hurt, and sucked at it.

"Mm.." Sasuke purred in the back of his throat, panting slightly as Naruto bit roughly at his shoulder; sucking hard and knowing the blonde was intent on making a bruise. Sasuke's hands roamed up Naruto's back, nails biting the skin in a needy manner. "You're back not hurting anymore?" He asked in a low silky tone, his hooded black eyes flashing to gaze at Naruto's profile.

Naruto slowly drew his lips away from Sasuke's neck and licked up the man's neck. "It hurts." He said as if it didn't matter. "But you're worth it." He purred.

Sasuke's body shuddered under the blonde as he licked up his neck in a feral manner, purring against his skin and causing Sasuke to moan. Sasuke lifted his head, kissing Naruto's shoulder to his neck, sucking at the pocket of skin just under his jaw.

"You shouldn't strain yourself…" Sasuke's hand cupped the back of the blonde's neck, forcing him to give him more space to work -- contradicting his words as he didn't let the fox go; not wanting this to stop.

Naruto let out a breathy moan as his neck was sucked at. "Mmnn...maybe you do the work," He breathed out.

Sasuke parted from the blonde's neck, his breathing uneven, his heart pounding in his ears. His hands gripped the blonde's hips as he tried to move Naruto away from himself. "Bedroom..." He purred against his shoulder, his lusty gaze flicked up to his expression.

Naruto grinned at his lover as he pulled back from Sasuke. Slipping away from his lover, he stood up out of the water, and moved fluidly out of the tub, his lustful eyes gauging Sasuke.

Sasuke lifted himself out of the tub, grabbing the towel off the counter and wrapping it around the blonde in a lazy hug. Sasuke's chin was on the fox's shoulder as he urged him down the hall, draped over him as the towel pinned his arms to his sides.

The Uchiha kissed the blonde's ear as they moved to their room, easing the blonde on the mattress as he slithered up over the top of him. Sasuke straddled the blonde's hips, positioning himself over the top of Naruto's hardness but not moving down on it yet. His hands roamed down his sides, over his stomach and thighs; Sasuke's lips catching Naruto's in a heated kiss.

Naruto moaned heavily, leaning up to meet the ferocity of Sasuke's kiss. He wiggled his hands out of Sasuke's towel and gripped his lover's hips, his tough fingers trailing up the sides of Sasuke's body. He breathed heavily, wanting to feel more of his lover's body.

Sasuke kicked the fabric uselessly to the ground, skin touching skin as the brunette sat firmly down on his stomach -- his back arched. His hand gripped the back of Naruto's neck, nipping roughly at his lips -- groaning into the fierce kiss. One hand moved between them; his hand roaming down the blonde's chest down to his aching need. Sasuke gripped Naruto roughly, moving his hand down his shaft moaning at the feel of his arousal lover.

Naruto's neck arched at the dual feeling of Sasuke's lips and hand on his skin. He groaned heavily, his hands fisting into the blankets. He caught his lip between his teeth, the sharp canine catching the kiss swollen skin.

Sasuke shifted down on his lover's body; feeling Naruto's hardness against his entrance as he lowered himself down against the blonde's chest. His lips ran along his collar, down his stout chest, his lips running over a perked nipple; His tongue brushed over the sensitive flesh.

Naruto gasped loudly, his chest arching up into his lover's mouth. His head fell to the side, his pink tongue slipping out to try and moisten the dry lips. One leg drew up behind Sasuke's backside, brushing against the smooth skin there, and the other stretching out on the mattress.

Sasuke perched above his lover then, parting from him as he set his hands on either side of the blonde's head. Sasuke started to slowly lower himself back upon the blonde; feeling the hardness start to spread him.

Gods...

Sasuke moaned deeply, the feeling of pain and pleasure ripping through him -- he hadn't been taken in god knows how long; everything was heightened, every nerve screaming as that length sheathed deep inside of him. His head bowed, his breathing uneven, his muscles tight as he sat all the way back on his lover. Sasuke took a moment to gain himself before he started to move, slow at first but gradually getting faster. "Naru...nnn..." Sasuke purred, his hands fisting into the sheets.

Naruto groaned deeply as Sasuke seated himself on his throbbing organ. His hands came up to his lover's hips, his fingers settling in a bruising grip.

God, it had been so long…

Sasuke started his quick movement, back and forth back and forth.

Sasuke whimpered at the feeling of being filled over and over; moaning deeply, his dark eyes rooted on the blonde's heated expression.

He felt the tension building.

"Naruto..." Sasuke groaned the blonde's name over and over; a vocal thing the Uchiha became when he was the one being taken; unable to help himself as he bobbed up and down roughly on the blonde.

Naruto's hands helped Sasuke move harder and faster along his length, forcing the rhythm to quicken. He had half a mind to flip them, to forcefully take Sasuke, and make him scream, but knew with the tense muscles in his back...

Fuck it.

Naruto held Sasuke's hips still for a long moment, and shifted one hand up his lover's side, forcing him to fall, Naruto turned with him, forcing Sasuke to his back. He leaned over his lover, and growled lowly in his throat as he started moving quickly in and out of Sasuke, wanting to hear those yells.

Sasuke barely had time to think as Naruto forced him to stop; precariously perched a moment -- a confused sound in his throat as he wanted to feel Naruto moving inside of him again.

Then the blonde flipped him -- just like that Sasuke was planted on his back, his hands bracing on the blonde's shoulders when Naruto came upon him in a heated movement.

Gods!

Sasuke moaned wantonly as the blonde plunged deep inside of him; his hips pushed up, his legs spread submissively as Naruto pounded into him. "Naa..." Sasuke moaned, whimpered, screamed -- it was too much; Naruto was pushing him hard into the bed with the force of his thrusts -- brushing against his prostate from the angle. "Naruto!" Sasuke panted, his back arched, his eyes pinched shut. "Ga...nn..."

The fox was all about sensations and sounds.

He continued moving deeply into Sasuke, grunts escaping him.

His hands fisted into the bed, curling the blankets around his fingers.

Sasuke's voice seemed to penetrate his conscious; it was the only thing that he could hear, those needy moans, his pleasured surprised yells.

Naruto could feel his muscles start to tense up as he started to near his end.

God, he was so close...

Sasuke continued to try and meet Naruto's thrusts; losing himself to pure sensation and feeling. "Nn..." Sasuke panted, moaning deep in his throat, sweat beaded on his skin as he felt his muscles start to tighten. He could no longer meet Naruto's thrusts; his body prone. Naruto just kept pounding into him; unrelenting, not giving Sasuke a moment to recover.

Sasuke just couldn't take anymore!

Stars flashed before his eyes; Sasuke screamed though he didn't hear it, his body quivering under his lover from the force of his orgasm.

Naruto's own yell of pleasure mixed with Sasuke's as the man's muscles clamped down around him. He felt the hot release spurt into his lover, coating his insides. His muscles burned with the exhilarating movement, and he could feel them trembling. Slowly lowering his body down to the sweat slicked one before him, he closed his eyes, his ears over Sasuke's racing heart.

God, he felt so much better.

"Mm.." Sasuke purred in the back of his throat, his muscles slack, his whole body feeling weightless and numb. His hands trailed up to run through Naruto's hair; already feeling sleep start to tug his mind. "God." Sasuke murmured, unable to open his eyes and peer down to his lover -- content and sated under the blonde.

Naruto's lips barely quirked up into a smirk at the word.

That just about described it.

He shifted his hips slightly, pulling out of his lover, and resting easily between his legs, not bothering to clean the mess on his stomach. His hand slowly ran up the pale, slick side, resting on Sasuke's ribs. "..love you.."

_I'm sorry._

Sasuke's head tilted, hair stuck to his sweaty face, his lips parted as he started to breathe evenly. Sasuke was already being pulled off to sleep. "...nn…love...you..." Sasuke murmured back lethargically, consciousness fading.

--

A/N:

It's been a while since the last update so I thought a chapter with a lemon would boost some of your spirits. Please leave us a review and the next chapter will be out soon.


	7. Chapter 7

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Seven'

It had been a good week.

Naruto and Sasuke had spent the first few days just lounging in bed -- Naruto's back recovering; but by the end of the week the fox had been able to paint the nursery.

They still needed to get furniture; something neutral to match the somber yellow.

Sasuke currently was just standing in the middle of that room, looking to the bright walls, then out the window where it had a clear view of the garden; of their special planted circle. Naruto had been called to the tower earlier in the morning; the Rock country was getting bolder, getting closer and closer to Konoha. A scouting mission was in order; something to feel out just how close the other ninja had gotten. Sasuke frowned, leaning up against the wall, looking out the window as he tried to keep himself from thinking about missions.

...god he wanted to go out there.

He tilted his head on the wall, one hand on his stomach as he tried to banish his want to fly free.

…cabin fever had stricken the Uchiha badly, but he was attempting to hide it, to get over it.

Naruto cursed as he walked back into his house.

The Rock was certainly becoming bolder and more destructive.

He moved through the house easily, going to his office to drop down the new mission for himself and a few Anbu. He'd have to take Sasuke's place in the scouting mission. It wasn't for another day, giving him one more with Sasuke. Sliding out of his robe he rotated his neck, letting the muscles stretch and the bones crack before he started out of the room and towards the bedroom. He blinked when he got there, Sasuke wasn't there, narrowing his eyes he looked over to the nursery and caught sight of his lover there. "What do you think of it?" He asked quietly so not to disturb him as he stepped into the room.

Sasuke turned to the blonde as the fox walked into the room. Sasuke's dark eyes regarded his expression, noticing that the fox seemed a little tense over something. The Uchiha glanced to the walls, "It's a nice color." Sasuke was quiet, just looking to the walls, "What's going on?" He was referring to Naruto's dealings at the tower, wanting to know what his squad would be doing in his absence.

Naruto sighed as he scratched his head, "Rock's getting closer." He leaned against the wall, just behind Sasuke, "I'm going out with your squad tomorrow to check it out."

Naruto..?

"You're not going out with the team." Sasuke said his tone final. He turned to the blonde, his black eyes flicked up to the kitsune's face. "The leader of the village shouldn't be travelling on the field; in the middle of a possible war." Concern was masked; Sasuke's tone was tense, not angry, but he seemed a little on edge about the thought of Naruto going out on the field. "They'll target you."

"They have no idea that I'm going to be there." The blonde tried to reassure, "I'm going as an Anbu, I'm not wearing the orange scarf." Naruto reached for his lover's hands, gently holding them. "Shikamaru and I are taking every precaution we can to make sure I'm not discovered."

Sasuke let his hands be taken by Naruto, unsure how to protest this.

...he didn't like it.

He didn't want Naruto out there. Sasuke frowned slightly, "I don't want you going."

Naruto smirked gently, "I'll be fine." He promised. "I know I've been behind that desk for a while, but I'm still the top ninja in the village." He reminded. He brought Sasuke's hands up to his lips and gave them a gentle kiss, "I'll be fine."

Sasuke wasn't deterred by his gentle kisses; still clearly not enjoying the thought of his lover on the field. Sasuke's eyes were sharp as he regarded his lover, "Why can't I go?"

Naruto gave him an exasperated look, "We've been through this." He started. "You're pregnant; you can't go out into the field."

Sasuke's hands were still in the blonde's, his dark eyes set to their feet. He was quiet a long moment, "Fine." Sasuke slowly let his hands fall from Naruto, intent on leaving the room.

...not really upset.

Just overly concerned; and maybe a little jealous that the blonde was getting the action he had originally craved before.

…he still had seven months to go.

Stuck in the house; pining to be on the field, worrying over his kitsune as the blonde took his place.

He didn't like it.

Sasuke hated feeling helpless.

Naruto sighed dramatically as Sasuke walked out of the room. He knew his lover craved action; craved to get out of the home and protect him.

That's was Sasuke did, that's what was in his blood.

But he couldn't bend the rules, especially now, when Sasuke was carrying their child.

It was too big of a risk.

He could draw him into the strategic room and have him help out there. Walking out of the room Naruto slowly followed Sasuke, "What if you came into the strategy room with us? Would that help ease your mind?" Naruto asked as he followed him down the hall.

Sasuke had rounded into their room, making his way to his chair near the window. He perched in it by the time Naruto entered the room and the blonde's voice hit his ears.

Strategy room?

Sasuke knew he had to make a compromise somewhere. He shrugged, "Sure." Though he did like the fact the blonde was trying to include him.

He wanted to be out of the house.

Maybe if he could see that their plans on the field were strong Naruto would be fine.

Sasuke also wanted to have a talk with his team if his lover was going on the field; wanting to make sure none of them would fail in protecting their Hokage-sama.

Naruto smiled gently as Sasuke agreed. Moving over to his lover, he placed a kiss on the man's temple. "The scroll's on my desk if you wanted to rip apart our work." He teased slightly, knowing that Sasuke really would go through the scroll. "I'm going to get food, hungry?"

"No." Sasuke slowly got up off his chair, following the blonde out of the room but as the kitsune continued to the kitchen Sasuke rounded in on the man's office. He walked to the desk, taking a seat and started going through the files and scrolls -- briefing himself as if he were going on the mission; intent on taking in every detail.

Naruto knew Sasuke would go into his office, it was better that the man knew instead of him trying to sneak behind his back. He sighed as he walked to the kitchen, opening the fridge to find something to eat. No matter what the team came up with, Sasuke still wouldn't be happy, it was Naruto going back out to the field. He hadn't been out in the field for almost a year now, just before Sasuke returned to the village and landed them both in the hospital. Sighing, he sat at the counter, apple in his hand; there was nothing in the fridge. He gazed down the hall, waiting for his lover to come back out and tell him he couldn't go on the mission.

Sasuke had finished reading, walking out of the office with the same frown on his face. He stalked down the hall, towards the kitchen, eyes on the blonde who was innocently chewing his apple. "When was the last time you've been out on a high-ranked mission?" Sasuke questioned, taking a seat at the counter; his elbows on the tile, his hands folded in front of his face.

...it was his brooding posture.

The look he had when he was a kid in class; it meant Sasuke's mind was already made up, it didn't matter what Naruto said, Sasuke wouldn't be happy.

Naruto watched Sasuke carefully.

And the questions start…

"Almost a year. I was sworn into office probably four or five months before you attacked us." He started; he knew Sasuke wouldn't like this answer, the man could add.

A year?

Sasuke scoffed, getting off his stool, "You're not going." The Uchiha started down the hall, "I read the reports, we don't even know how many are out there."

"Hence the point of a scouting mission." Naruto pointed out as Sasuke started to walk away. "And since when did you tell me that I couldn't go on a mission?" He called at his lover's back.

"Since now." Sasuke murmured, "If it's just a scouting trip they can find someone else." Sasuke knew scouting trips weren't as innocent as they had been -- he had been ambushed after all.

...it could easily happen to his lover.

"Are you forgetting that I'm the strongest ninja in the village?" He knew Sasuke would forget a detail like that. "You're not the one going either." Naruto pointed out, "You are on 'maternity leave' _mommy_!"

Mommy?

Sasuke's shoulders tensed, he was nearly at the end of the hall when the Uchiha turned, his dark black eyes glinted in the shadows of the hallway. Sasuke stalked all the way back to the kitchen, inches from the blonde, his sharp eyes glaring at him. "You're the strongest ninja?" Sasuke spat, "You've been behind a desk for nearly a year." Sasuke continued to eye him, "I can still kick you're ass Naruto, don't test me." Sasuke didn't like being called a mother; even though he was technically bearing children; he didn't like it.

…it just rubbed him the wrong way.

Naruto just smirked up at his lover, the hormones were certainly running high today. "I'm not testing you." He pointed out, "I'm just pointing out the fact." He took another bite of his apple and chewed on it almost dramatically in front of his lover. "Besides, how many people would expect me out there? None. Which is why it's a good plan."

Sasuke kept his frown, backing off just slightly as the blonde chewed his apple slowly -- not caring about Sasuke's emotional threat. "I don't like it." Sasuke knew he couldn't force Naruto to stay; the kitsune was set on going and didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

"Why are you so against it?" He asked, "It's just a mission, its not like I haven't done one of those before. He tilted his head slightly, his chin resting in his palm.

Sasuke was quiet, looking out towards the porch, avoiding Naruto's eyes. "What if…" Sasuke started, feeling swamped with emotion all of a sudden.

...fucking hormones.

He bit back his upset, forcing irritation over the budding concern. "Whatever." Sasuke snapped as if to himself to cut a thought short, once again moving down the hall -- but at a normal pace; not intent on really storming out of the room like he had before.

Naruto sighed gently as he watched Sasuke walk away.

There was nothing he could do or say to ease his lover.

He had to go on the mission.

There was no way around it, he had to go, there was no one else.

--

A/N:

Short chapter I know. Next one is going to be dramatic. Please leave a review and the next chapter will be up soon. Thank you!


	8. Chapter 8

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Eight'

Naruto would be waking up in an hour.

Naruto would be leaving on his mission.

Sasuke had mulled it over again and again in his mind; just not wanting the blonde to leave out on that uncertain field. Currently the Uchiha was pillowed against Naruto's side, his dark eyes sweeping from the clock to his lover's sleeping relaxed face.

_Naruto…_

That was it.

Sasuke wasn't going to let him go.

It was the Uchiha's duty to protect Naruto; he wasn't going to let the kitsune leave.

Sasuke would leave first.

The Uchiha had slowly climbed out of bed -- careful not to disturb the blonde as the man moved around the room gathering his things.

He let his night clothes slip to the floor as he pulled on his Anbu gear and weaponry.

…gods it felt good.

Sasuke set the mask over his face, feeling a sense of pride and power wash over him. He approached the bed for a fleeting moment; looking down to the blonde before he slipped silently out the window. He had to make it to the tower quickly -- he needed to gather his team; convince them Naruto had sent him in his place and get as far away from Konoha as he could before the blonde woke up.

...he had less than an hour to do all that.

Sasuke flew like a bat out of hell, hopping from roof to roof, his dark eyes focused on the tower as it came into view.

Shinya yawned as the team slowly woke up in the meeting room, plastic cups of coffee trying to wake the ones who still believed they were asleep. It was almost three in the morning; the mission could start at any time, they were just waiting on Naruto, who wouldn't be there until four.

Looking up at the ceiling he sighed heavily, when was Sasuke coming back?

Had the sickness been that bad?

Shinya almost jumped as the door opened up.

Who the hell? Everyone was there--

His eyes widened as he caught sight of the familiar mask, "Taichou!"

Sasuke lifted his mask to skew on his head, his black eyes sweeping the room and surveying his men in his usual emotionless look. Everyone seemed to perk to attention -- Sasuke's gaze was just as good as coffee in their opinion; the Uchiha wouldn't deal with failure and the way he was sizing them up made them a little nervous.

...it had been nearly three months.

Their leader was back!

The ninja bowed as Sasuke took the remaining steps into the room, "The Hokage-sama asked me to attend the mission in his place." He paused briefly, "Ready?" Was all he offered his men.

…no explanation of his sickness.

Nothing.

No one questioned Sasuke.

Ever.

To question, was to die a slow and painful death from the blazing Sharingan.

"We're ready when you are." Shinya stood his katana at his side ready to go.

Sasuke replaced the mask, perching on the edge of the window before he jumped out into the crisp new morning.

They had to make distance.

He had to get as far from Konoha has he possibly could before the blonde woke up.

His team was close behind; keeping up with his break-neck pace.

This felt good…

Running like this; feeling the cool air against his skin.

Shinya was almost a branch behind his Captain, why was he so desperate to leave?

It was a two day mission, why was he exerting so much energy?

Had there been changes to the report and he hadn't been informed?

Then it dawned on him.

…Naruto never told Sasuke to go.

--

The fox woke up a few minutes before his alarm something itching at his brain.

Something didn't feel right.

Opening his eyes, the bleary orbs gazed around the room, before he rolled over, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Looking over his shoulder, he expected to see Sasuke...but there was nothing there.

…What?

Sitting up the kit caught sight of clothes on the floor.

...No…

Looking over to the closet he got up and stumbled over to the door and threw it open.

He did!

"That fucking bastard!" He yelled as he quickly went to his own closet to change before rushing to the tower. "I'm gonna kill him!"

--

Sasuke knew his team wouldn't complain about the pace.

Sasuke's team never complained; they endured and followed.

The Uchiha had made sure he had the best squad; proud of his ninja. They were a good defense for Konoha -- though Sasuke's only true concern was of protecting his Hokage-sama.

He trained them well for that purpose.

Sasuke would defend Naruto until he died.

The Uchiha had slowed his pace as they neared the deeper part of the forests on the outskirts of Konoha.

Naruto would be waking up now.

But it wouldn't matter, he was far enough away, Naruto wouldn't come looking for him -- he knew the blonde knew where he was. His breathing was slightly labored; content with himself for escaping.

Shinya landed soundlessly next to Sasuke, his bat eyes sweeping the land. The Rock hadn't bothered with illusions since the day of the ambush, which told him they had taken out their main illusionary user. He held up three fingers for Sasuke to see, followed by a six. There were nine ninja out there waiting for them.

Nine ninja out there?

Sasuke felt the anticipation build; his whole body reacting soundlessly as he sailed up into the trees with the rest of his ninja for more cover. His fingers itched for the blade, but he knew not to unsheathe it yet.

...he didn't want them knowing they had been detected just yet.

Shinya stayed down and low to the ground, his eyes still scanning the layout. He had to get fixed positions on the men before he reported back. But this seemed to be the only team in the area for miles around.

Only one scout group.

How stupid.

Leaping up, he landed next to Sasuke and nodded. "That's it." He murmured, as he pointed out where all the men were. If they were lucky, they'd be back in a few hours instead of another day.

Sasuke had nodded to Shinya, gesturing for the other ninja to take the flanks. They were going to hone in on that team -- get rid of it before they could report back. Sasuke flew first, just a little faster that everyone else in the group, unsheathing his blade as he felt a flicker of chakra, coming to slash through a branch but he was met with nothing.

He heard rustling; leaves fell around him, but it was difficult to figure where they were coming from -- or if they were leaving. Sasuke snarled, whipping his blade when another branch snapped; cutting the wood in two but still there was nothing.

…then the rustling stopped.

Completely silent.

Sasuke strained himself to feel for anything, to hear anything; looking to Shinya yet the man slowly shook his head.

...they were gone.

Just like that.

Damn.

Shinya scowled as he landed next to Sasuke.

This was ridiculous.

They had been right there!

Either they were called back, or they knew they were threatened.

They had nothing now, only a new location to the Rock's impeding penetration to the Fire County.

"Captain?"

Damn it…

Sasuke scowled, glaring at nothing as he tried to calm himself.

They were retreating.

They were planning, testing the waters.

This had been a failure.

"...back to Konoha." Sasuke said in a monotone; hopping to the next branch to lead his troupe home.

...the sun hadn't even rose yet.

--

Naruto just glared at Shikamaru, "How the hell could you think I would let him come back? You know he doesn't have a clean bill of health yet!" He had been furious to arrive at the Tower to find the team gone, but he had expected it the moment he woke up.

Damn Sasuke!

He was endangering more than just his own life!

Didn't he understand that?!

Shikamaru frowned up at the Hokage, "I didn't even know he was here."

Sasuke apparently had to have scaled up to the tower's window, bypassing Shikamaru's little station in front of the office.

Shikamaru's head turned as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke's team had returned.

...at the peak of Naruto's anger.

Great.

The Uchiha was ahead of the group, his mask skewed on his head, his expression impassive though his eyes betrayed a quiver of emotion as they landed on the furious Naruto.

Naruto caught Shikamaru's eyes flickering to the window, he raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Sasuke. His eyes flared, "You!" Naruto yelled pointing to his lover, "You stay here! The rest of you go with Shikamaru!" He ordered, his eyes slitting to fox pupils, the whiskers starting to lengthen.

Sasuke was in more trouble than he could imagine.

Shikamaru hurriedly shut the door behind the ninja, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone -- feeling the bite of demon chakra in the air around them.

...shit.

He better not wreck the tower.

--

Sasuke stood in the room, trying not to be deterred by Naruto's harsh anger. But, the lengthening whisker marks and the bleeding eyes disturbed him.

...this wasn't going to end well.

Sasuke tried to remain aloof, though he unconsciously crossed his arms in a defensive posture.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Naruto yelled his hands on his desk, despite the itch he had to wrap them around his lover's neck and shake him. "You were not release back to active duty!" His eyes narrowed. "You took a mission not assigned to you, on top of being...sick!" The fox still had enough common sense not to yell out that Sasuke was pregnant.

Then _he'd_ be the one in trouble.

"Or did you forget that little detail?" Naruto's voice took on a sarcastic tone. "You risked more than one life!"

"Nothing happened." He started, knowing that wasn't the best defense. Sasuke remained at a distance from the blonde, feeling the anger radiating off of him, Kyuubi mixing with his lover and he wasn't sure how far this would go. "We ran into another scouting group but they ended up getting away."

Sasuke felt the mission a failure.

No battle.

No anything.

The Rock retreated back to make new plans.

"Did nothing I say make it to your brain?" The fox ask, the sarcasm never leaving his voice.

He didn't care if the mission was a failure, that wasn't the point.

Sasuke had risked more than his own life.

Selfishly at that.

"You risked more than your life, do you not understand that?!" He asked again, anger evident.

Sasuke was quiet a long moment, stricken by the words.

...he had heard him the first time.

Sasuke's arms unconsciously shifted down across his stomach as if apologizing to his unborn infant.

...but he had to keep Naruto safe too.

Sasuke was torn, at a loss for words before he reached up and replaced the mask over his face.

…end of conversation.

He didn't like this.

"You are far from done with this conversation." Naruto's voice was authoritative, and stern. "You do not have the right to even wear that mask right now." His eyes slowly deactivated, but the slits still remained. "You endangered our child and for what? So you could go out and play Anbu Captain behind my back." He snapped. "What the hell?! What were you _thinking_?"

Sasuke didn't know why his body thought the best plan of action right now would be to cry.

…but that was what it did.

Sasuke felt the hot tears on the corners of his eyes before they fell; though his face was still hidden and his sniffling was silent to not give anything away.

Their child…

He could have killed it.

Sasuke's head was bowed; his throat tight and he just didn't know what he wanted to say. He wanted to get mad -- to end this violently like he normally did.

...but he couldn't.

Fucking hormones!

Sasuke turned his back on the blonde then, just as his stupid crying got worse; letting himself remain hidden as he pushed his mask up to angrily rub at his eyes.

Naruto almost started on another tirade but stopped when Sasuke turned away from him. "What are you-" He paused as he watched the mask get pulled aside and watched as the gloved hand came up to his face. "A-are you...are you crying?" He asked his voice almost incredulous, yet soft.

"No!" Sasuke snapped, but his tone broke, his hands pressed to his eyes in a useless attempt to make them stop watering.

He felt stupid.

Useless.

He had failed their mission; he had put their child in danger and he had broken Naruto's trust in him all in one go.

Gods…

He choked on a sob, unable to control himself anymore; unable to well up enough anger to cover the pain.

Naruto, for once, was at a loss of words.

Sasuke was crying?

Closing his mouth, he stared uncomfortably at his lover's back, unsure what to do.

Had he been wrong to yell at him?

Why was he crying?

Sasuke never cried…usually he was the crier...

Swallowing he stood up and back from his desk, almost wanting to find help. He slowly stepped out from behind his desk, until he was within arms reach of Sasuke. "...I'm…sorry?" Naruto mumbled unsure of what to do.

"I'm going home." Sasuke said quickly, keeping himself at a distance of the blonde, moving to leave out the window -- not caring that his mask had fallen to the floor in his haste to get away.

…he looked foolish crying.

He didn't like that Naruto was quiet, approaching him awkwardly.

He didn't like any of this.

The Uchiha left without looking back, sailing over the roof tops intent on going home and hiding in bed.

Naruto stared at the window a hurt expression on his face, before he glanced down at the wolf mask. Kneeling down he slowly picked it up, he could still see some of the tear stains on the white porcelain. Standing, he sighed, before he walked over to his desk and set the mask down.

He stared at his desk as if trying to find the answers.

Shikamaru could fix the county at the moment.

He needed to fix his family.

Picking up the Anbu mask, he started towards the window before anyone could stop him, he leapt down to the nearest room before starting in the direction of the house.

--

Sasuke had planted himself in bed, stripped down to his boxers as he buried himself in the blankets and sheets.

...he felt crappy.

Worse than that really.

It was like a wave of upset just fell on him and he couldn't recover. He had stopped his stupid crying, his head buried under a pillow, his eyes slightly puffy.

Sasuke wasn't used to crying.

His head hurt now.

Naruto landed quietly out in the garden, his eyes uncertain as he gazed at his own house.

It was quiet.

It unnerved him.

Slowly standing, the fox started towards the porch, quietly sliding the living room door open and peaking his head around the corner, trying to find Sasuke without exposing too much of himself.

What if he was angry now?

Seeing that the coast was clear the fox stepped into the room and closed the door, his shoes slipping off. Walking down the hall, he caught sight of the clothes trail, and he bit his lip, feeling hesitant about going any further. Peeking his head into the bedroom, he caught sight of the Uchiha in bed, his arm over the pillow guarding his head.

...he couldn't hear anything, had he stopped crying?

Moving further into the room, he neared the bed and paused.

What was he supposed to say?

I'm sorry I yelled?

What the hell is wrong with you?

Why were you crying?

What did I do?

Questions and uncertainty flooded the fox.

"...Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned his back to the fox, still hiding in the pillow -- though the blanket fell off his naked shoulder exposing his spine. "What?" His tone was muffled; holding an edge to hide the stupid waver the previous crying fit had brought on.

The fox shifted uneasily and eyed his lovers back warily, "...what did I do..?"

"Nothing." He murmured in that same tone, not turning to the blonde, his shoulders clearly tense.

Naruto didn't do anything.

Naruto was right.

Sasuke endangered himself and their child.

But...

The Uchiha just didn't want Naruto going out there; not trusting in the kitsune's obvious abilities, afraid the blonde might not come back.

…then Sasuke would be alone.

Alone to raise their child; alone to sit in this house and mourn him.

But his paranoia had been wrong; the scouting trip had gone easily, less than two hours.

A failure.

Sasuke tried to hide further, pulling the blankets over him completely this time -- like a child hiding from its mother.

Was this behavior normal for pregnant women?

God, it sucked, and they had seven months left.

"...why were you crying?" He asked almost hesitantly.

Why had Sasuke gotten so upset?

"I don't want to talk about this."

This was stupid.

He felt so weird.

When Naruto had said those things it made him mad; then all that anger swirled and he ended up crying.

Why the fuck did that happen?

Then he got sad; overwhelmingly sad over the fact of his child and the possibility he could have killed it.

…and now here he was; trying to regain some composure; trying not to look like a complete mess and the blonde just wouldn't leave him alone.

Naruto sighed and reached back to scratch his head. Stepping forward, he moved over to the corner of the bed and knelt down next to his lover. He moved the blanket, and reached out to set his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "...so, why are you so upset?"

Sasuke tried to ignore Naruto's hand, keeping his frown as he tried to steady his thoughts. "I just am." He murmured in the same cryptic snap. Sasuke didn't want to talk about his _'feelings'._

...he might end up crying again.

The Uchiha definitely didn't want that creeping up on him again.

"Okay." Naruto moved so he was sitting on the bed, right at his lover's hip. He let his hand trail down the man's side, brushing the blanket aside, so his fingers were resting over his hip; his cerulean eyes were still unsure.

It took a few long, tense moments before Sasuke laid out on his back.

His dark black eyes dull as he looked up to his lover; just studying the kitsune's unsure expression. "...what?" He murmured evenly, shifting to move the pillow more comfortably behind his head, "I thought you were upset with me?"

Naruto let out a soft sigh and tilted his head, his eyes still uneasy. "Honestly, you threw me for a loop." He admitted. "I don't think I can be mad at you now." He slowly let his hand move over Sasuke's stomach. "I have no idea what I did wrong."

Sasuke felt the warm palm on his bare stomach, unconsciously he lifted his own to rest atop Naruto's. His black eyes didn't leave the blonde's bright blue, "You didn't do anything." Sasuke took in a breath before he tilted his head back, obsidian gaze set to the window. "...I did." He finally admitted.

Naruto's eyes were still on their hands resting over their developing child. "Just promise me you'll never do that again." He let his eyes flicker up to Sasuke's orbs, which were gazing out the window.

Sasuke slowly brought his eyes back to Naruto's, unable to look away from the intense emotion he found there. He let out a quiet sigh, "...I promise." He wouldn't do something like that again -- Sasuke wasn't only looking out for himself this time; he had to think of his family now.

The fox smiled gently, before he reached up and gently cupped Sasuke's jaw, leaning over the man to press his lips against his. "Good." He murmured.

Sasuke let himself finally start to relax, reaching a hand up to rub his eyes -- they felt a little sore still.

…when had been the last time he cried?

Sasuke frowned; Sasuke wasn't a crier, he didn't wear his emotion on his sleeves like Naruto.

...yet he wasn't able to help it, to stop it.

Was it going to get worse, these stupid feelings?

Sasuke somehow knew it would; how he wasn't looking forward to the next few months.

Naruto slowly parted from Sasuke, his hand slipping from Sasuke's body as he stood up. He moved over to the bathroom, pulling out one of the softer cloths, and easily soaked it with lukewarm water. Squeezing out the access water, he moved back over to the bed and easily folded it, resting it over his lover's eyes. "You hungry?" He asked softly, his hand resting on his lover's chest.

Sasuke remained prone on the bed, feeling the warm cloth over his eyes -- it felt good; the Uchiha nearly smiled to the feel of it. "Mm…" The Uchiha murmured easily, both hands now on his stomach, just lying over the top of it. "Haven't eaten." Sasuke had skipped out early, no breakfast and the mission hadn't been long enough for lunch.

"Onigiri for you, ramen for me." The fox stood from the bed once more and started for the kitchen. He'd let Sasuke think and relax while he got them food.

Sasuke laid there for a long while alone; his eyes didn't bother him anymore, the rag now on the night table. He pushed himself to sit up, blankets pooled in his lap as he looked out the window at the bright day. Sasuke alerted to footsteps; looking over as the blonde entered the room, food in hand.

The fox smiled gently and held the plate out to his lover. "Here." He moved around the bed and slide into his own spot, scooting over so their arms were touching each other. "We already have four messages from Sakura, Shikamaru, Shinya, and some other kid...from your squad..." He pulled the long noodles up with his chopsticks and slurped them up, "Thankfully we're staying here today." He smirked.

Sasuke reached for the onigiri, munching on the corner of it, avoiding the center; he always saved it for last. "What did they have to say?" Sasuke murmured in a nonchalant tone, getting closer and closer to the plum in the middle of his rice.

"Where are you? What's going on? Why was Sasuke there?" He rolled his eyes. He drew his legs up, crossing them.

Sasuke smirked a little, tilting his head on the blonde's shoulder as he started on his next triangle of rice. Naruto had been angry at the office; he was sure they had heard his raised voice, had felt the Kyuubi like he did. They were probably running around the office trying to make sense of what happened -- completely concerned probably that the Anbu captain and the Hokage-sama might be at each other's throats somewhere.

Sasuke found it amusing.

But, the Uchiha was drawn to chaos.

Naruto smiled as he felt Sasuke rest against him and turned so he could press his lips against the pale skin. "I love throwing our office for a loop. It's the best prank ever." He chuckled before he turned to finish off his ramen.

Sasuke chuckled softly in the back of his throat, his dark eyes flicking up to his grinning blonde. "You're still a kid." Sasuke snorted; the kitsune had his moments -- running the village was one of them, and yet sometimes he just seemed like a child through and through.

It was nice though.

Naruto hadn't really changed, not deep down.

He'd probably always be the same.

"But you love me." He gazed back at his lover, finding his lips once more. He let out a small giggle and pulled back so he could put the plate and the Styrofoam cup on the night stand. "Besides, we all know the day I stop playing pranks, is the day there's something really wrong with me."

Wasn't that the truth.

Sasuke lazily draped himself over his lover; feeling much better than he had earlier. Though the Uchiha's mood seemed to swing quite easily these past few weeks. "Yeah…" Sasuke said easily, leaving a simple kiss at the base of the blonde's jaw.

Naruto wrapped his arms around his lovers body, surrounding him completely. "You know we're going to have to talk to Tsunade again about your pregnancy…figure out what's going to happen, all that." He uncrossed his legs so they rested on either side of Sasuke's body.

Sasuke enjoyed being engulfed by Naruto; shrinking into his chest and just absorbing his warmth. His slightly smaller hands rested on the blonde's; holding them gently as he relaxed. "I know…" Sasuke knew he needed to get his check-up, get the talk from Tsunade.

...but he didn't want to yet.

It was still weird.

Naruto smirked and pressed his lips back against Sasuke's temple, "It's weird for all of us." He reminded. "I'm sure baa-chan is back at her place ripping her fake blonde hair out right now, trying to figure it all out." He sighed and just rested back against the headboard. "But we'll keep it quiet as long as we can…if that's what you want."

"I don't care." Sasuke murmured, shifting in Naruto's hold so he was lying against the blonde's chest, his head under the kit's chin. "No one will believe it anyway." The Uchiha smirked slightly, wrapping his arms firmly around Naruto's waist.

"Until you start getting bigger, and then all of a sudden your water breaks and we have a kid." Naruto giggled childishly.

Sasuke frowned a little; gods he was going to start getting bigger.

Sasuke didn't have much more than a slight hint on his stomach at the moment; nothing that would even suggest anything out of the ordinary.

…but that would change.

The baby was growing, and it'd have to come out eventually.

Naruto nudged Sasuke's cheek with his own and let their hands rest over Sasuke's stomach. "Don't think about the others, just think about the end of the road, what's going to be here in seven months." His voice was soft and comforting.

...a baby.

Sasuke's body was relaxed as their hands settled on his stomach.

"Nariko or Naruto jr." Sasuke joked quietly, his fingers laced with Naruto's, their hand roaming over his still flat tummy.

Naruto laughed at the names, "Sasuke jr!" He insisted. He couldn't wait until he could feel the small kicks coming from the pale skin, proof that his child -- _their_ child was there.

--

Lot of scene changes. Lots of fluff. Drink it all in while you can because this fluff doesn't last forever. The angst storms are coming! Haha, thank you for all your reviews so far. Please leave us some feedback and the second chapter will be up soon!


	9. Chapter 9

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Nine'

Sasuke was a teetering six and a half months along.

He was showing, not horribly so, but more than he had been before. He was wearing Naruto's shirts to cover the stupid bump and his ankles were starting to hurt.

…he wasn't used to the added weight, and his lower back didn't much enjoy it either.

Currently the Uchiha was in the nursery, now complete with furniture, Sasuke was sitting in the rocking chair by the crib.

Naruto poked his head into the nursery when he hadn't found Sasuke in the bedroom. He smiled gently when he caught sight of him, "Hey." He wasn't sure how the hormones and Sasuke were getting along; the man had his good days, and he had his bad days.

Sasuke frowned just slightly, his black eyes turning to the blonde as he entered the room. His hands were on his large middle, rocking just faintly in the chair. He could smell the crisp air of the outside world, could scent the wet dirt since the rain just recently passed. "Hey." The Uchiha said back easily, not hinting whether he was in a good or bad mood just yet.

Naruto stepped out from behind the door, clad in his Anbu uniform. He had a nervous look about him, remembering what happened last time they had talked about this. "Um..." He scratched the back of his head, "...I've been called out." Naruto started. "Just a two day mission." He added into a hurried voice.

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the sight of his lover clad in his ninja gear. Sasuke tried to quell his upset; in all seriousness the Uchiha thought Naruto would be called out much sooner than this. He looked down to his stomach; his hands perched on the top of it, his head slightly bowed as his bangs swept forward. "Two days?" Sasuke murmured; annoyed the kitsune hadn't told him earlier, but maybe it had been a surprise thing.

...surprise?

Then maybe this wasn't just a scouting trip.

Sasuke tilted his head up, "What rank? What is the briefing?"

Naruto pursed his lips and shifted nervously in place. "It's an S-rank." He added quietly. He gazed at the man carefully; he knew Sasuke had already figured out that it was a dangerous mission. "It's a recon mission, into The Rock County." Naruto started his eyes a bit unsure how to proceed, "Shinya was taken."

Recon mission?

Shinya was taken?

Naruto was going into the heart of the battle?

Into the Rock country?

...he was dressed to go, his face sheepish; the Uchiha knew there was nothing he could do.

Naruto was the top ninja now that he was stuck at home; and this mission required his strengths to save the fellow ninja. Sasuke let out a long sigh, bringing his hand to his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried regained himself. "You better come back." Sasuke said in a dangerous tone.

Naruto nodded slowly, and gazed around the room, his child's room. He spotted the Kyuubi doll in the crib, waiting for its new owner. Reaching up under his collar, Naruto easily unclipped the First Hokage's necklace and started towards his lover. Kneeling down next to him, he gazed up to the dark eyes, "I'm coming back for this." Naruto reached for his lover's hand and slid the chain into his hand. "I promise."

Sasuke opened his eyes; they were bright, the hormones getting the best of him as he gazed at the blonde's gentle face. Sasuke slowly lifted the item, attaching it around his own neck before he cupped the blonde's scarred cheeks. He pressed his lips firmly against his lover's, "...okay." The Uchiha murmured as he parted, feeling an overwhelming since of foreboding; feeling a pain, he didn't want Naruto leaving.

Naruto kept his hands close to Sasuke, his eyes closing as their lips touched. He didn't want to go but Shinya was important. He was the only other Ninja in the village who could put up with Sasuke, successfully. "I'll come back." Naruto promised his voice quiet. Leaning up he caught his lovers lips once more, his hand around the back of Sasuke's neck holding him close, stealing one last kiss before he broke away and started out of the room.

Sasuke had stared at the doorway a long moment, hearing the front door slide shut and then the quiet steps of the blonde as he walked down the path and ultimately out the gate. Sasuke slowly got out of his seat, reaching into the crib and picking up the fox toy.

…everything would be okay.

--

Naruto met up with the team just outside the training grounds. The mask firmly in place, his eyes hard as they started forwards, his muscles were tight, ready for battle.

They needed to succeed; they needed to bring Shinya back.

"Let's go."

Shinya was taken.

Their secondary leader gone.

How could they possibly defeat everyone there and still succeed?

Raito didn't think they would be able to come out of Rock's base camp alive. It was a miracle if they hadn't killed Shinya already. Though, it was highly possible they were going to attempt to use him as leverage perhaps to hold a meeting of sorts between villages.

Raito wondered why Sasuke wasn't with them; why he had been gone so long.

It wasn't like he doubted Naruto -- not at all, but they never battled under the kitsune, they weren't sure how he would expect them to react.

The fellow ninja behind Naruto and Raito flew in pace with them, ducking up into the trees as they followed the fox's lead. The camp was just outside of the border of the forest, at the crest of desert -- it would take quite a while to get there; and who knows what spies would be waiting for them.

…or if they knew they were coming already.

Naruto watched the Rock county get closer and closer, the forest was starting to get thinner; starting to expose them to their enemy. They were forest dwellers; they depended on the trees and foliage for cover, not earth and stones like the rock ninja. Staying up against the tree, Naruto crouched down, his cerulean eyes taking in the expanse of the base.

This was why the needed Shinya, he'd be able to tell them where the enemy was hiding, and of course there were no Hyuuga's in Sasuke's unit either. The two blood lines typically never worked together. Glancing back at the team, the fox nodded, and they slowly started to creep out of the trees moving to the ground silently, their eyes and ears pealed for any signs of movement.

They had to be careful.

The group silently moved forward, their eyes flicking to everything as they moved from the cover of the trees. Their feet were quiet on the sandy ground; muscles tense as they itched for their weapons. They didn't see a base -- but it was most likely hidden under all the sand.

...they needed to start feeling for a barrier; for any chakra discretions to try and detect where Shinya might be.

Before the group could think weapons flew out them -- precise; the only give away was the hissing wind as they descended. The group hopped back in unison; drawing their blades and wordlessly waiting for Naruto's deduction of what should be done.

Shit!

Had they been found?

As the group ducked for cover, the fox tried to listen for sounds of movement.

Did they activate a trap?

He couldn't hear anything, no movement, no rustle of clothes…

Trap?

Looking back at the group he nodded once more.

_Get 'em._

The ninja ran forth, over the patch of ground, attempting to feel out the hidden ninja if there were any. Traps were activated; more weapons -- one ninja fell on a poison trap; but was able to disappear before the gas assailed him.

This whole patch of sand had to be the top of the base.

...why else would it be so rigged up?

Raito ran into the center, away from the group, feeling out for a waver of chakra that would hint at the opening under all this sand.

Naruto trusted Sasuke's squad to do what they were trained to though he had to keep himself in line, not able to run around and fight as he normally did, almost uninformed.

He deflected the kunai and his free hand shot out to catch the spinning shuriken between his fingers before he dropped it to the ground. They pushed forwards, trying to find the entrance. He could feel the wavering chakra, as did Raito. The two pushed forward, dodging the weapons, before Naruto felt the seal change, the chakra building.

Someone was under the sand, right at the entrance of the base!

As Raito reached that spot, Naruto reached out, his arm wrapping around the younger ninja's chest and pulling him back just as pressurized Sand shot up from the ground, flares of chakra cutting at his arm guards, gouging at it.

Moving the man aside, Naruto quickly pulled the katana out and stabbed straight down, he felt his blade hit flesh and bone. He twisted the blade into the man, wanting to make sure he was dead, or injured severely enough so he wouldn't be able to stop them.

Raito gained his bearings; the splashes of blood all over the sand and their feet as Naruto slammed the sword down hard into the innocent sand.

...the opening.

They had found it.

The younger ninja glanced to Naruto's mask, but the kitsune's focus was on the ground. He noticed the gouges in his armor but was grateful it didn't look like anything had pierced the Hokage-sama's flesh.

…protect the Hokage-sama.

At all costs, always.

That was Sasuke's first priority; he fought with such severity not for the village; but for the leader.

Raito felt a little sheepish at his folly; Sasuke would be angry.

The other ninja had come over in a rush of movement just as Naruto dropped down into the entrance. The band of them followed into the dark abyss; expecting anything.

Naruto knew it felt weird as they dropped to the sand and easily disappeared into it, but as the darkness took hold of their vision, and the sand slid over their exposed skin, their feet touched solid ground, and they could see again.

The hideout was big enough to be a small village.

He glanced around at the buildings, trying to figure out which one would be holding Shinya.

Now was when they had to stay alert, now was when they really needed to step it up.

Now, their real mission started.

--

They had searched for what seemed like hours.

Time blended as they raced down the maze-like halls; most of the buildings were decoys, nothing was inside just a front.

...it was weird.

Almost like a ghost town.

There wasn't an enemy in sight, but that didn't mean they weren't there -- they had to be there, watching.

Then, there they were.

Just at the end of the wide hall were four ninja.

The group stopped, momentarily calculating before two ninja swept onto opposite buildings -- coming down on the group from the flanks as Raito dashed into the center. Raito was the fastest and the smallest ninja on the squad, the shuriken and kunai thrown at him missed/were deflected as he focused chakra in his palms. The moment he was in front of the enemy ninja he slammed his hands into the ground -- causing it to explode, the enemy forced to scatter and the flanking ninja caught two as they jumped into the air.

Naruto watched as the two Rock ninja leapt up from the ground, out of Raito's blast. Using his father's flash step, he threw himself up into the air after them. He easily channeled the Rasengan into his palm, not needing to use a Kage Bushin to help him. He threw his fist forward, the spinning blue swirl slamming into one man, ripping him to shreds, while the blast knocked the other man to the side.

Being a wind user, Naruto was able to balance on the breeze, and focused on the last ninja falling away from him. Concentrating on the surrounding wind he closed his eyes, his hands forming a seal, the man stopped falling, being held in mid air. Opening his eyes the fox held out his open palm, must like Gaara had all those years before, and closed it into a fist. The wind spun around that last ninja, creating its own funnel cloud, before it started to tighten and tighten, the winds getting faster and faster, stripping the flesh off of the man, the force of the wind snapping his neck. Letting him drop, Naruto gazed at the half shredded corpse.

It wasn't the prettiest technique, but it got the job done.

Dropping down to the floor he felt out for Shinya once more.

They were getting closer...

"Let's go!"

The group easily followed Naruto -- hopping over the mess they had left; knowing the enemy would be following them now.

They had witnessed a few of their techniques.

They knew what to expect.

The followed Naruto down another hall, feeling out chakra as they sensed Shinya close.

…alive.

Shinya was alive; they could feel it.

Naruto continued to follow the thread of chakra -- Shinya's.

He had to know they were there now, the stream was getting stronger. Naruto pushed the door open but forced himself to take quick step back, as the kunai and shuriken flew at him. Bringing an arm up he felt the sharp, cold bite of blades kissed his upper arm and nicked his mask, but that was it. Running forward, he spotted Shinya, hunched over in the chair, drops of blood dripping from his chin and tip of his nose.

As Naruto ran and knelt in front of the man, Raito moved behind his second in command and easily cut the ropes.

The fox caught the body carefully turning him over, "Shinya?"

The man slowly opened his dark eyes, catching sight of the Fox mask, and gave him a weak grin.

Naruto smirked himself and easily helped the man up, wrapping his arm around his shoulders, the other at his hip.

They had to get out now.

They could hear the footsteps racing towards their position.

"Raito! Blow that fuckin' wall out!" Naruto ordered nodding towards the wall he knew would lead back outside.

Raito did as he was told; chakra bright in his palms as he slammed them into the wall -- the whole expanse of it exploding outward the spark of sunlight momentarily blinding.

The ninja were behind them; running into the room.

They wouldn't make it out…

Raito and another of the squad turned quickly, blocking Naruto's back as the enemy was upon them.

Blades drawn the two rushed the enemy; the other of the group assisting Naruto as they made their way out.

They'd try to buy time.

Enough so Naruto and Shinya could get away.

Shit!

Naruto and Shinya moved to the broken wall and easily slipped out, "Get out of there!"

Naruto knew Sasuke would kill him if he lost one of his team members.

He needed back up!

He couldn't fight with Shinya limp against him.

He pushed forwards, back to where they had entered the hide out.

They needed to get back to the forest, they had cover there, they could use the branches and the trees to their advantage.

Raito and his fellow dropped back; the rush of ninja following hot after their tail.

Naruto and the rest of the team had fallen back into the forest; safe among the trees just as Raito broke through the lush green expanse.

The Rock ninja were coming fast…

Raito was still on the ground, his fellows in the trees. He focused his chakra, bringing up a wall of sand to deflect the weaponry.

...he had used too much chakra so far.

It was starting to wear on him; but despite it the young ninja forced the wall to move back, to hopefully crush the enemy. Only one got stuck in the wave; the other four avoided it, running for the prone young ninja, blades at the ready. Raito dropped his jutsu, unsheathing his katana to try and prepare for the onslaught; his breathing uneven as he tried to steady himself.

…four on one.

Shit.

The other two of Sasuke's team hopped down from the trees; intent on coming to Raito's aid, attempting to disperse the attack so the man wasn't the only one in the cross-fire.

Naruto quickly pawned Shinya off on to the nearest squad member, pushing them forwards, "Go!"

He couldn't loose them!

Pushing himself off of the branch, he drew his katana and landed in back of the group of three, "Get him out of here!" He ordered, his eyes focusing on the four Rock ninja that were starting to rush towards them.

The one squad member had taken Shinya; knowing the man needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, not wanting to defy the Hokage's order. He hopped easily from branch to branch, disappearing as the rock ninja were occupied with the rest of his squad.

"We can't leave you." The ninja with the bird mask said, his blade drawn, shielding Raito's worn body as the rock ninja crouched before them -- preparing themselves.

"That's an order! Go! Get him out of here!" Naruto yelled as he blocked a katana blade and ducked out of the swipe on another. He couldn't use the larger version of the twister-like jutsu with them there.

Against their will they ducked into the trees, sweeping Raito with them.

The younger ninja's eyes widened as he felt himself being pulled into the safety of the trees, his pale eyes looking down to the Hokage as he was swarmed by the onslaught of enemy ninja.

Where were they doing?!

Hokage-sama!

Raito couldn't struggled, he felt too weak, the other ninja had him in a strong grip, holding him as they made way towards Konoha.

…Naruto got smaller and smaller until he couldn't see him at all anymore.

--

A/N:

Hey! Finally got another chapter out. The next one is full of drama and slight angst-ness. I've noticed that people were commenting on the lack of jutsus, I don't know if it was this story in particular or Foolish Hearts, but yeah. They said that it seemed more like Samurai fighting than ninja. Not really, they still fight like ninja, just a lot of the magic is lost.

I personally don't follow Naruto. I know right? As silly as it sounds, I'm not caught up at all in the manga. I own a hell of a lot of books, and a lot of the anime, but haven't bothered myself to watch it yet. It normally doesn't matter, since this technically is a new timeline me and Kareian made up in parallel to the actual story. I don't know all the techniques and I don't know anything about bloodlines really. We normally try to stay away from a lot of the magic aspect to make it a bit more real and fun.

Sorry if the fighting scenes aren't what you thought they'd be.

Anyway! Please leave us a review and the next chapter will be up soon.


	10. Chapter 10

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Ten'

The moment the fox knew that Sasuke's team was safely out of the way, he let the Kyuubi chakra bleed into him. He caught a swinging blade, coming at his side, the sparks illuminating his demonic eyes. Growling, he pushed the man off of him and leapt back and up into the air, much like he had before. Focusing on the rush of fresh air around the four men, the fox started to bring them up, dragging them into the air, but he felt a tug of resistance and opened his eyes.

One man had his arms in the ground, earth and stone covering his body. He smirked up at the Hokage, and before Naruto could figure it out, a rush of rock and earth clamped itself around his middle, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

The fox let out a chocked scream as he felt something crack in him, his fingers scratched at the earth, trying to find a hold so he could pull himself out -- but there was nothing. He didn't have time to push through the pain; the enemy was up and coming at him again. He watched as the man leapt towards him, hands already forming seals. Naruto, without thinking, brought his own hands together and yelled out his own jutsu the same time the Rock nin did.

A huge explosion of wind and rock met, the wind tearing through the Rock ninja, shredding them to pieces, while the rock holding Naruto crumbled and broke with him still trapped inside, and burying him as he fell back to the earth, trapping him.

Three rock ninja left.

The group arrogant now that the only leaf ninja was caught under a mass of rocks and soil. They nodded to each other; all had felt the demonic aura.

One man reached for the blonde, tugging him out of the mess of rocks; the other two ninja had their blades to the blonde's throat as if daring him to try something.

"You'll be the new hostage." The apparent leader murmured, his eyes glinting.

Without warning a blade dropped from Naruto's neck and stabbed emotionlessly into the blonde's back.

All the way through; though the ninja was skilled enough to avoid organs; merely wanting to wound the blonde further to ensure his inability to fight back.

...he couldn't win against all three of them.

They didn't want to kill Naruto.

...they knew who he was.

It was unmistakable.

"Hokage-sama." He hissed, the scent of blood filling the air as the ninja drew his blade out, letting the wound bleed.

Naruto fell to the forest floor, feeling the hot blood spill from the wound, and the cold sweat start to take him over. He breathed heavily as the pain crept up from the injuries.

Shit.

He needed to escape. He needed to get out!

As he tried to force himself to stand he felt a twinge of pain stop him, his shin screamed at him, the bone broken.

Few broken ribs, broken leg, stabbed.

Sasuke was going to kill him if he didn't die here...

Panting, the fox tried to focus, to block out the high pitched whine in his head, warning him that he was nearing unconsciousness. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto let out a war cry and quickly pulled out a kunai, swiping at the Rock Nin's neck, severing the jugular and windpipe in one move.

Shit!

The other ninja leapt back as their leader was cut down.

…how did that happen?!

They felt the demonic aura; but the wounds Naruto had, he should be falling. His leg was broken; he wouldn't be able to run after them.

...but retreating wasn't an option.

Naruto was almost dead!

They narrowed their resolve, blades drawn as they moved towards the wounded male.

...screw taking him hostage.

The village would buckle under the fall of their Hokage-sama.

The adrenaline was kicking in, numbing the wounds.

Naruto rolled out of the way of the blades, taking out another kunai as he did. He couldn't roll further than his back, his side wouldn't let him. Instead he slammed the kunai down into the foot of the closest attacker, reaching for a third kunai, Rasengan powering up in his opposite hand.

Quickly sitting up and getting to one knee the fox slammed the kunai under the man's jaw, biting into the soft flesh there, he used enough force that only the hilt of the blade was seen.

Before the last attacker could back away, Naruto lunged, his hand going for the man's face, the Rasengan slamming into the man's skull, killing him instantly.

Naruto had one arm wrapped around his bloody chest, and one outstretched, his palm pillowed against the trunk of a tree. He had his weight off of his broken leg, and his shoulders were hunched over with pain.

His breathing was raspy, crackling even as blood mixed in his lungs, one of his ribs having punctured his lung. The mask was stiflingly hot, making it even harder to breathe, but he couldn't take it off. He was trembling, the cold settling in to his limbs, he was going into shock. He had nothing to try and keep himself warm, nothing to try and staunch the bleeding. Naruto closed his eyes as he felt his good leg give out from under him, his body slouching towards the tree, using it for support as his own body started to give out.

…_Sasuke._

_I'm sorry…_

--

Shit. Shit. Shit.

This was all Shikamaru could think.

He was pinching the bridge of his nose -- hard; Sasuke's team had returned without Naruto. The blonde was still out there on the field in the midst of battle.

What if he was dead?

Shikamaru didn't know what to do, he was at a loss.

…they had to recover Naruto.

In a rush of action the lazy ninja had dismissed Sasuke's team -- they were exhausted; Shinya already admitted into the hospital.

Recovery mission.

It still wasn't over yet.

Shikamaru gathered his weapons; seeking out Neji and Kiba whom were stationed somewhere in the office.

They needed to get Naruto back; and Sasuke couldn't know about this.

Naruto just better not be dead.

--

It had taken the rest of the afternoon to find Naruto at the edge of the forest.

...he had been badly wounded; lost so much blood he felt cold as ice; his body completely broken by the Rock ninja.

It was a miracle his heart was still beating.

The Kyuubi must have had a part in keeping Naruto's near-corpse alive; and Shikamaru was grateful.

Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba had brought the man back as gently as they could -- running back to Konoha as quickly as they could manage with the wounded blonde. Finally they had admitted him to the hospital; he had underwent transfusions; had been stitched up and his broken bones as mended best they could.

Shikamaru now had the great task of informing Sasuke of his lover's state of being.

...great.

The shadow user was at the door step, he sighed, he didn't want to do this.

Raising his fist, he knocked against the wood and stepped back.

Stupid Naruto.

This was too troublesome.

It was dark.

Two days he had said.

…well, this was the second day.

Where was the retard?

Sasuke frowned as he heard a knock at the door, pulling himself out of bed and making his way down the hall.

...who was it?

Tsunade?

He wasn't supposed to see her until the end of the month. Sasuke was clad in a loose orange sweatshirt -- obviously Naruto's, and a pair of black flannel pants.

He had made his way awkwardly to the door; his ankles bothering him as was his back but he tried to ignore it. A hand was on his middle; slowly opening the screened door a little alarmed to see Shikamaru.

"...what is it?" He said in a low irritated drawl; unsure what to expect, trying to ebb the alarm that sounded in his head.

Why would Shikamaru be here?

…did…

Did something happen to Naruto?

Shikamaru raised a lazy eyebrow at Sasuke's attire.

Since when did he wear orange?

Was he gaining weight?

"Your team just got back from their mission." He started; maybe if he gave the good news first, he wouldn't die so quickly. "They successfully recovered Shinya for the Rock's hide out, but..." He paused and let out a sigh, "There was one injured..." He watched the guarded black eyes, unsure of what to make of them, "Naruto's in the hospital..."

Naruto's in the hospital..?

But…

That meant he was alive, right?

Bastard! He wasn't supposed to get hurt!

Sasuke's fingers brushed over Naruto's necklace that hung around his neck, his dark eyes lost a moment before they glared at the lazy ninja. "He's stable." Sasuke said quickly, almost a statement but the question was in his dark eyes.

Shikamaru shook his head, "Not yet. He lost a lot of blood. No one really knows what happened." He informed. "Shinya and Raito are there too...but they're stable."

Naruto…

He wasn't stable; they weren't positive he was going to make it?

Sasuke's heart felt like it was in a vice; his throat tight.

He had to go there!

Sasuke brushed right past Shikamaru in his awkward gait, forcing himself to move as quickly as possible to the hospital.

He had to see him…

Naruto had to be okay.

Naruto wasn't going to die!

He _promised_.

Shikamaru easily turned to followed Sasuke, his eyes still following the man. He was worried about Naruto, sure, but there was something about Sasuke that was off as well. "He's gonna be fine." Shikamaru started as they moved down the street, "He's too stubborn to die." He added after a moment. It wasn't like he said Naruto had died, so why the odd emotion in Sasuke's eyes? "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Sasuke snapped, though obviously something was wrong. The baggy clothes hid his larger middle thankfully, but it was still a little obvious; if not the idea of Sasuke wearing Naruto's clothes meant something was up. "I just want to see him." Sasuke said in that same clipped tone; though it seemed to waver almost.

…Sasuke hated being stricken with emotion like this -- but he couldn't control it.

He just felt everything with such an intensity he couldn't comprehend it.

The hospital was in view; "What floor is he on?"

"He's in the ICU.." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. He thought that might have been obvious. "Lie to me all you want, but I know there's something going on." He said lazily as they walked into the hospital. It wasn't as crazy as it had been when he had first arrived, things had settled down.

As they moved closer to Naruto's room, they spotted Sakura walking out of it.

"How's the idiot?"

"Stable, but critical..." She answered slowly, her eyes flickering to Sasuke. "He's not awake, but you can go sit with him..." It technically wasn't allowed, but she knew there was no stopping Sasuke or Naruto when one was in the hospital.

Sasuke didn't say anything more to either Shikamaru or Sakura; making his way into the room and avoiding their questioning eyes.

The brunette took up a chair at Naruto's side, his black eyes drinking in his lover's wounded frame.

…Naruto.

The blip of the heart monitor was strong and stable, but he had a lot of things hooked up to him; his body bandaged.

...his ribs were broken it seemed, as was his leg.

He looked rather pale, his breathing labored due to the broken ribs -- Sasuke wondered if anything punctured a lung.

The sight of him hurt his heart; the Uchiha didn't know how to react, his whole body was hurting.

…what if he didn't wake up?

Sasuke reached for Naruto's cold hand, holding it tenderly in his own as his head bowed. "You better not die." He said, his tone not as edged as it should have been -- nearly on the verge of tears thanks to the pregnancy.

The thought of Naruto dying…

Right here, right in front of him...

Sasuke purged that thought from his mind; the blonde would make it.

He had to.

…his family needed him.

--

A/N:

Sort of a short chapter. I just promised I would update this on Tuesday. It's Tuesday and It's updated! Praise me! Praise me I say! Haha. Just kidding.

In other news, for all that don't know, I now have a deviant art account. Check it out, it's my homepage. Kasu0236 is Kareian's ID and BaffledFox is my ID. Go look us up! There's a lot of fan art on there, and some Foolish Hearts fan art.

I might even be making a doujinshi of that fanfiction, and this one, eventually. *gaspshock* I know! So, please visit us on there. Also, please leave us a review, I'd love to know how you guys like this story so far.


	11. Chapter 11

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Eleven'

Naruto didn't know what was going on around him..

He felt numb but in pain, light but heavy, and then just clammy.

God, what happened?

Everything was fuzzy, his memory, his vision…

Moaning softly, he tried to shift on the bed, his eyes pinching shut as the bright light over head beat down on him.

Someone turn off the light.

Sasuke had fallen asleep.

It had been hours since he first came in, hunched in the chair, his cheek against Naruto's bed, his hands still holding his.

Then he felt the twitch of Naruto's fingers against his face; alerted the brunette opened his eyes blinking to the bright light and to the sting in his eyes.

..Sasuke had ended up crying; just a little, too many memories, emotions, and what-ifs for him to handle and had pushed him into an unwanted sleep.

Then he noticed the bright blue of Naruto's sleepy eyes.

Naruto!

He was awake!

Sasuke snapped to attention, groaning as his back snapped, forcing himself to focus as he gazed at his lover. "Naruto..." He breathed; emotions swirling in his dark black eyes.

Naruto blinked slowly as he heard the familiar deep voice.

Sasuke was there…

He could feel fingers around his own.

Sasuke was warm…

The air against his face was cold, slowly crossed his eyes, trying to figure out what was cold against his face -- oh, breathing mask.

He was the one that felt clammy.

"...hey." Naruto breathed out, his voice rough from the coughing and sleep.

"You idiot..." Sasuke frowned, though his hands still held Naruto's in a gentle embrace, his brows knitting together to try and hold his expression.

…he felt he might break down again; hearing Naruto worn voice.

"You almost didn't come back." Sasuke said in a serious tone.

The fox forced himself to swallow and grinned weakly. "...here I am." He whispered, his eyes closing as he tried to get his bearings, to remember what had happened. "'m sorry…" He breathed out, apologizing for almost breaking his promise.

Sasuke lifted Naruto's hand, pressing it to his face forcing the blonde to cup his jaw. Sasuke closed his eyes, breathing evenly as he tried to calm his jostled wits. "...they said you weren't stable." Sasuke murmured, his eyes still closed, melting against the cold hand as his body curled as close as it could to the bed. "...when you didn't open you're eyes.." The Uchiha continued, "I thought…you weren't going to again..." He licked his lips, his cheeks flushed, "It's been…hours..."

Naruto slowly opened his eyes once more, taking in the distraught look in his lovers dark obsidian orbs. "'m sorry." He whispered again, his voice steadying a bit more now that he was awake. He wanted to draw Sasuke close, he wanted to push the stupid mask aside and taste those pale lips. He wanted to reassure his lover with his hugs, and tease him, but he couldn't, he didn't have the energy.

Sasuke was quiet, keeping Naruto hand in his, placing the blonde's cold palm against his stomach as he remained near the bed. Sasuke's dark eyes remained on the blonde before they fell back along his frame, listening to his labored breath and the strong beat of the heart monitor. The Uchiha didn't know what to say; he was grateful Naruto was alive, was able to talk and look at him.

He didn't know what he'd do if Naruto had died…

Sasuke didn't like thinking about it.

Naruto relaxed back into the hospital bed as much as he could.

He was just so tired, beaten down, exhausted…

He could feel the curve of Sasuke's stomach under his hand and managed to grin ever so slightly.

Their child…

He almost hadn't lived long enough to see them.

He felt something bump the palm of his hand, a flutter feeling almost. Opening up one eye he glanced at his hand, over Sasuke's stomach.

Did his hand muscles spasm?

Or was that the baby?

"...did…did it just kick?"

Sasuke was alarmed by the feeling; having been caught in his mind. The fluttering feeling struck him again just as Naruto asked the bumping under their hands. Sasuke's lips twitched into a sincere smile, his dark eyes fond as he looked down to his belly and their joined hands. "Mm..." Sasuke murmured in an affectionate tone; their baby was happy Naruto was alive too.

...to think he might not have been here when the child was born; might not have been able to share in this moment.

It hurt to think about.

Naruto smiled, feeling the soft fluttering under his hands.

It was amazing.

"...does it hurt?" Naruto asked gently, he had no idea what to expect with the pregnancy.

"No, it doesn't." A new voice drifted into the room. "It's normal; it just means the baby is healthy."

"Sakura!" Naruto tensed up, his chest biting at him, making him wince.

"Yes, Sakura." The girl smirked back at him, before she glanced down at Sasuke and smirked, "Told you that you were pregnant."

Sasuke frowned slightly as the girl walked into the room, walking towards them with that grin on her face.

"Naruto's recovering well." She murmured easily, looking over the charts, writing down Naruto's vitals.

The Uchiha's dark eyes fell from the girl back onto his lover.

...so it meant the baby was healthy.

That was good.

"You've had you're check-ups and everything? I haven't seen you in the hospital."

"Tsunade does them." Sasuke said simply, easily showing his irritation for having the woman walk in on their little family moment.

Naruto blinked and tried not to shift as Sakura moved the bloody patch off of his chest. "How'd you know?" He asked.

"Kinda easy to figure it out." Sakura started as she reached for an antiseptic pad. "He changed into a woman at the party, I've known you two long enough to know that you had sex that night," She ignored Naruto's small hiss of pain and continued to move the wet towel across the stab wound. "Month later he's in the hospital throwing up, but strangely not showing any other symptoms of the flu." She threw the bloodied towel away, "You're sleeping on the porch, because his hormones are going crazy, no offense, Sasuke, but your body wasn't meant for them." She added glancing at her team mate, "Then he's pulled from missions, with an excuse that he's sick, and no one's seen him, and when we do, it's in your baggy clothes." Sakura finished taping a new patch on to the kit's chest, "I'm not an idiot."

Naruto flushed and looked away.

"All nice and clean." Sakura smiled, looking to the blonde and gently patting his cheek. "How do you feel?"

Sasuke remained quiet to Sakura's musings; watching the wince cross the blonde's face as she worked.

Naruto would get better soon.

He had Kyuubi in him; he'd be just fine.

Sasuke almost seemed to be reassuring himself.

Naruto turned his face out of the patting hand and gave her a mock glare. "Mur…" He mumbled, it sounded more like a croak than anything else, like one of his summoning frogs.

Sakura could only laugh, "I'll check up again on you two later."

The medic ninja left the room then closing the door with a soft click.

Sasuke had yet to check up on his team members; but Sasuke didn't think he'd be leaving Naruto's room any time soon.

Not until the blonde was up and moving again so they could go home.

"Get better." Sasuke said in a commanding tone, a slight smirk tugging his lips.

Naruto let out a soft chuckle, but it turned into a wet, hacking cough, before he fought it off and just grinned back at his lover. "Or what?" He teased gently. He would get better for his lover; he would always get better for him. He had a family to watch and protect now, he wouldn't leave them again.

"Or else." Sasuke said in his same mocking tone, his fingers absently trailing over Naruto's digits.

...gods.

He was so relieved that the blonde was okay, that he was back and it didn't look like he was going anywhere any time soon.

--

Naruto had been in the hospital for almost two weeks, before Sakura had deemed he was stable and strong enough to move around and go home. He had been given crutches for his broken leg, which had been casted from his toes, which were poking out, to the top of his calf.

He had found the chemically binding ace wrap to be a nuisance, and he constantly forgot about it, banging his leg against doors, and chairs, even managing to tumble once in the bath tub.

One would think, that with a bright orange cast he would remember.

One would think.

But this was Naruto, who never seemed to fit the mold.

Two more weeks had gone by; Sasuke was seven months along, and not moving very fast.

Naruto worried about it, the lack of movement made the Uchiha a bit irritable, as did too much movement, and with all the tossing and turning the fox was doing in the bed to try and get comfortable -- well, it just wasn't as friendly at home as he had hoped.

And Sex.,.

God…

Naruto huffed as he stood at the kitchen counter.

It had been forever!

Forever being almost 5 months now.

It was the only thing that Naruto hated about the baby. It kept Sasuke from having sex, they could technically, there was no harm in it, all the baby book Tsunade had given them said so, but Sasuke refused. Leaving Naruto to resume his affair with Righty and Lefty.

…Oh well.

Looking down at his plate of fruit the fox grabbed one crutch and slid it under his armpit, he didn't care that the rough leather irritated his raw skin, he was lounging out on the porch, in the sun, he didn't care. Picking up the plate he hobbled awkwardly outside, his shorts starting to ride low on his hips once more, the little butt crack peaking out. Somehow he managed to get the plate down on the ground before he hobbled back to the kitchen for his other crutch. He didn't know where Sasuke was at the moment, but, while he was off duty and wasn't being summoned to get things for Sasuke, he was going to try and enjoy himself out on the deck.

Sasuke wanted to move around.

He hated feeling so…

Bloated...and heavy…

Ugh…

Sasuke was seven months and a few weeks along now. The baby was growing easily and it was tiring him out.

Naruto was moving around, even on his crutches and Sasuke had been taking advantage of him -- forcing Naruto to get things for him since the Uchiha had yet to leave bed most of the week.

...but now he was restless.

Where was Naruto?

Where did he go..?

Sasuke frowned as he was lying over his pillow, clad only in Naruto's larger sweatshirt, feeling cold. Sasuke slowly kicked his legs over the bed, feet touching the floor, the sweatshirt falling just above his knees; this garment was rather big even for Naruto -- a reason why Sasuke snagged it so he didn't look as big as he felt. His fingers peeked out of the ends of the sweatshirt, one palm on his belly as he forced himself to move down the hall.

...maybe moving wasn't a good idea.

"Naruto." Sasuke called into the silence of the home, his tone irritated and hinting at his mood.

...pregnancy definitely wasn't treating Sasuke well.

Sasuke had noticed the empty living room, the empty kitchen noticing the door to the garden slightly opened. He made his way over there, peeking his head outside into the bright sun, his hair a mess of mussed blue-black locks; his lips tugged into a tired frown. "…what're you doing?"

Naruto almost groaned at the slightly irritated voice, but held it in.

Today was a day to just do as you were told.

Letting his head dip backwards, he smiled gently as his lover, part of an apple still between his lips. "Enjoying the view?" He suggested his head cocking to the side ever so slightly. "Need something?" He asked pulling the apple out of his mouth, his head still tilted back so everything seemed upside down.

Sasuke looked to the blonde, rolling his eyes at his comment. Slowly the Uchiha walked out onto the porch, keeping his distance from the blonde as he swept his legs over the side of the porch. He tilted his head up to the sun, his hands behind him to give him balance.

...he hadn't been out here in a while.

It felt nice.

Sasuke shrugged, "...no."

Naruto slid the plate of fruit he had gotten across the porch so it sat between himself and Sasuke, just in case. He knew at some point Sasuke would need something, at least he had one thing covered. Gazing back out at the garden he smiled gently, it had been a long time since they had just gone out there to relax. Naruto gazed at their circle and smiled gently before he glanced back to Sasuke's growing stomach. "What do you think about getting a new plant for the circle?" He started, resting his casted foot on the stone step, his elbow resting on that. "To represent the new baby."

Sasuke wordlessly picked up a cube of fruit, popping it in his mouth and savoring the wet texture of it. The dark eyes shifted across the garden towards their circle, looking at it a long moment before he brought his gaze to Naruto. "We should." The Uchiha said simply, remained turned in his lover's direction. "Did you have an idea?"

"Nope." The fox answered easily. "Guess it depends on if its a boy or girl." He shrugged and reached for another piece of fruit. "Any ideas on which it is?" He asked.

"I don't know what gender it is." Sasuke murmured in a scoffing tone; his mood apparently in a bad place this morning. But Naruto hadn't really seen Sasuke in a better moment in quite some time. Sasuke looked back out to the garden, "We could ask Tsunade."

Naruto raised his eyebrow his chin resting on his open palm. "I thought you didn't want to know?" He started.

He wasn't sure what to make of Sasuke's mood.

He seemed a bit more irritable today than usual.

Sasuke continued to watch the garden before he laid back, his sweatshirt dangerously high on his thighs but he didn't seem to care about it.

The Uchiha's arms pillowed behind his head as he looked up at the bright blue sky.

"I don't." Sasuke didn't want to know, he wanted it a surprise. If he had wanted to know before; then they could have just waited to paint their child's room. He didn't know why he always felt so all over the place; feeling a little more irritated today than before.

Naruto let out a quiet sigh, and moved off of the porch and reached out for Sasuke's foot. Sitting on the stone step he gently took his lover's ankle into his hands gently started to run his thumbs along the arch of his foot. "Then we'll get a plant when the baby is born."

Mm…

Sasuke let his eyes slip shut as Naruto kneaded his foot and ankle; he enjoyed it when Naruto would rub his feet.

…they were hurting more now that he was bigger; one of the reasons he hadn't been moving around at all.

Sasuke let out a contented sigh, "Okay."

Naruto smiled gently and continued to move his strong fingers over to sore foot. He was glad it still worked, that he still had at least one method to calm Sasuke down. As he looked at the ankle he sighed, they did look a bit swollen, more so than they had before. Leaning down, he pressed his lips against the arch, "You're almost there." He tried to encourage his lover. "Just a month and a half or so."

A month and a half…

Then the baby would be here.

It almost seemed too soon; Sasuke knew the ending would be painful, something difficult but worth it all at the end.

He was looking forward to it.

But, at the same time he had reservations.

It didn't matter, he couldn't stop it anyway.

Sasuke opened his eyes attempting to peer down at his lover but he couldn't see over his stomach.

Bah…

He was so fat.

Sasuke propped up on his elbows, his dark eyes catching Naruto's bright blue and the little grin on his lips. "What do you hope it is?" Sasuke inquired his expression a tad curious.

Naruto gazed back up at Sasuke; before he let his lover's foot go and slithered up between his legs, his chin resting on his lovers swollen stomach. "Honestly?"

He made a small face as he thought about it.

A boy would be fun; he could teach him so many things.

But a girl would be so different and loveable.

He knew if it was a girl, it would be the end of him.

"I don't care either way." Naruto answered honestly, "As long as they're healthy and strong, I'm okay with a boy or a girl."

Sasuke liked that answer.

The Uchiha didn't mind either way either.

Naruto was rested between his legs, his chin on his belly, his expression almost cute.

...but maybe his fawning on the blonde in this moment was due to the fact that they hadn't been affectionate at all, in quite some time.

...the Uchiha just didn't feel like it.

He was too swamped with emotion, his own irritation at being so huge, and the fact that his body simple just ached almost every moment of the day to really shoot a second glance at the blonde.

But he felt comfortable out here.

The sun was warm, the wind caught all the scents of nature and it was just soothing -- not to mention his massaged feet that felt a hundred times better.

Sasuke slowly let himself lay on his back; his head tilted exposing his neck as he stared off into the garden planning a nice spot to put their child's plant.

Naruto smiled gently as Sasuke seemed to settle down, the irritation seeming to leave him as he relaxed on to the floor. He pressed his lips against his lover's stomach, his hand running up Sasuke's thigh in a soothing manner. He had had reserves about being a father not long after he had gotten out of the hospital, but the more he watched Sasuke grow, and the closer they got to the date, the happier he got.

He was going to have a family.

Sasuke enjoyed the feel of Naruto's hand along his thigh but tried not to make it obvious. He lifted a free hand, setting it on top of the blonde's head as his fingers moved across the soft spikes. "I love you." The Uchiha murmured in a decisive tone, still looking up at the cloudless sky.

Naruto let himself nuzzle into the hand, "I love you too." He murmured, his lips finding Sasuke's palm.

They would have a summer baby.

He almost purred at the feel of fingers threading through his hair.

He couldn't wait for Sasuke to have the baby so he could be with him again..

Sasuke smirked just slightly at how Naruto responded to his little touch.

His fingers trailed down over his ear, to the back of his neck, just calming motions with his digits.

"How's your affair going?" The Uchiha murmured in a playful tone, catching the little look in Naruto's eyes.

"I left righty for lefty." He answered easily, wishing those fingers would do something more, but knew they wouldn't. He let out a content breathy sigh, his neck arching into the touch just like a cat would.

"Mm." Sasuke made his little agreeing noise, his fingers moving down the blonde's neck, applying a little more pressure in an almost massaging motion. "Treating you well?"

"Not as well as you." he let out a soft moan, his head resting on Sasuke's stomach. He almost shivered at the feel of those lithe fingers along his neck.

It had been so long…

Sasuke's fingers felt the quivering muscles under the blonde's taut skin. His dark eyes looking to the kit's contented expression, to his parted lips and his ears perking to attention at his breathy moan.

It had been quite some time.

Before the Uchiha could delve any further he pulled back his hand and started to sit up. He shifted his weight attempting to get out from under the blonde; though his movements were sluggish, but the intent to get up and get away was there.

.Sasuke was getting a bit too excited himself.

He didn't want anything to happen.

Naruto felt Sasuke start to move to get up, and pouted to himself, but none the less he moved, and helped Sasuke get up from the porch.

He hoped down so he was on the garden floor, he helped pull his lover up, "Want me to make some food?"

He felt a little disheartened that Sasuke wouldn't continue.

Even just to relieve his own frustration.

He could relieve Sasuke's too!

God! It wasn't like they had to have _sex_!

Instead he smiled gently at this lover, as he helped him up.

Sasuke nodded slightly, "Sure." The Uchiha let Naruto lean on him as they went into the house. He had set himself down in the chair at the table, his dark eyes focused on the blonde as he moved around the kitchen.

...he wanted to touch Naruto.

He wanted Naruto to touch him, he did.

But, he had reserves over it.

Maybe stupid ones, but they were there and he didn't want to do anything with the blonde; just forced himself to ignore what he wanted. Sasuke's dark eyes looked a little thoughtful, his hand over his budding middle as he just stared off at nothing.

Naruto easily hopped in the kitchen having left the crutches outside. He easily pulled out some of the left over salmon and some rice. Onigiri was always a good choice with Sasuke. He easily made a simple plate before he slide it across the counter, the plate stopping right in front of Sasuke. "There ya go." Naruto smiled as he limped out of the kitchen to get his crutches.

Sasuke looked down to his rice, then over to the hobbling Naruto.

...stupid ass.

He's been so happy during this entire time, even suffering his broken leg and yet not once had he snapped back at Sasuke. He lifted the rice to his lips and began to munch on it; his mind spinning with an idea as he stared off across the kitchen.

Naruto hobbled back to the kitchen, crutches under his arms once more, the plate held awkwardly in his fingers. "I think baa-chan is supposed to be by later." He started as he rested his crutches against the cabinet and easily picked up the last two pieces of fruit and popped them into his mouth, before he rested the plate in the sink. "One of the last check ups." He smiled back at his lover.

Sasuke had finished his onigiri by the time Naruto had returned. He stepped off the stool and padded into the kitchen -- empty plate in hand. He set it in the sink with Naruto; just standing in the kitchen a moment with the fox. "Yeah." Sasuke murmured easily; the last check-up.

It was getting so close to the due date.

They still hadn't picked any names, aside from Nariko.

But, that was fine, they still had time to sit and think about it.

Naruto picked up Sasuke's plate and easily started to rinse it off, before he started washing it. "Has she talked about where it's gonna happen?" Naruto asked, his eyes flickering up to Sasuke's once more. "The birth...I mean."

Sasuke leaned back against the counter, his dark eyes moving to the expanse of their home. "I would think in the hospital." He said like it was an obvious answer.

The hospital would be best; more stable, Sasuke would feel better if the baby was there in case something went wrong.

...he hoped nothing would go wrong.

He had no fear thus far to think something would turn amiss.

Sasuke also hoped he'd make it to the hospital, Tsunade said to expect the unexpected sometimes, the baby might hit before he wanted it to and the hospital might not be an option.

But Sasuke didn't want to think about that.

Naruto nodded slowly and rinsed the soap off of the plate before he set it in the rack to dry. He glanced back at Sasuke and smiled gently. "Sounds good." He answered easily, before he turned the water off and started to dry his hands. He wrapped his arms around his lover's waist, and rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulder, "I'm getting excited about this."

Sasuke set his hands on Naruto's arms, a soft smile on his features as he gazed down at Naruto's limbs around his swollen middle. "Me too." Sasuke said honestly, leaning back into the blonde. He tilted his head, placing a few kisses on the blonde's ear and temple tenderly.

Naruto pulled back slowly, not wanting the simple touches to excite him too much. "Good." He pulled his arms back and reached for his crutches, "Hey, I was thinking, maybe we could have Iruka and Kakashi be the godparents, ya know?" He started, "Someone we know that will watch over them just in case something happens to us."

"Iruka and Kakashi??" Sasuke watched the blonde as he set himself back on his crutches, the Uchiha nodding slightly. "Sounds fine." Sasuke stood there a moment, watching his lover, "Where are you going?"

The blonde balanced on the crutches and swung his casted leg up in the air and smiled, "Getting this stupid thing checked out." Naruto let his leg drop back to the floor. "They said it should be healed up here soon," he reached his good out for his sandal and used his toes to pick of the other sandal, so he'd have it just in case the cast came off.

"Might get lucky today. Get out of this stupid thing, start on some PT and get back to walking instead of hobbling." He shrugged, "Did you want to come?"

Sasuke eyed the blonde, "Mm. I'll get pants." The Uchiha made his way down the hall, taking a little longer than normal as he still was getting used to walking with the added weight. The Uchiha returned in a black sweat shirt this time and dark green plaid pajama flannels. As he made his way back to the kitchen he held out a shirt to his lover since Naruto was only wearing his shorts. The Uchiha didn't want him going in public shirtless. "Let's go." He said easily, moving towards the door.

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle, forgetting that he hadn't been wearing a shirt, "Oops." He let the crutches rest against his body as he easily fished into his shirt, and pulled his pants up a little higher. He'd forgotten a belt, but if he got the cast off, then he wouldn't have to worry about his pants constantly sagging. "I want my cast off, I want my cast off…" He sang to himself as he followed Sasuke out the front door, the bottom half of the cast catching on the lip, causing him to stub his little toe. "Owww~" Naruto glanced down at it and made a face at it. "Stupid cast..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as the blonde stubbed his tow, hobbling down the steps and across their yard to the gate. Sasuke waited at the gate for the blonde before he pushed it open, letting the blonde move in front of him. Sasuke was a pace or two behind; cursing his stupid ankles as they felt sore again.. so much for Naruto's massage. "I'm sure you'll be getting it off." Sasuke said simply, Naruto had it on for a while, the demon probably had it healed by now.

"Better be! It's been of for a month!" He paused, looking over his shoulder to Sasuke as he caught his own breath. "And it's slowing me down." He made a face. He watched Sasuke carefully, poor guy. The fox really hoped the cast would come off; he'd be able to help Sasuke more than he could now. He hadn't been able to propery rub down his back or his ankles, not being able to really get into the water, being forced to bathe with one leg hanging out the tub. "Then we'll go home, and we'll both soak."

A nice warm bath…

That sounded good.

Even better without Naruto's awkward cast.

"Okay." Sasuke murmured easily, walking up the steps to the hospital, following after the blonde who was vigorously trying to move quickly on his crutches.

...he hoped Naruto would be getting his cast off today.

He just looked so excited; Sasuke didn't want to see him pouting.

--

Sakura easily lead Naruto and Sasuke back to the exam room and let the fox hop up on to the table. She caught sight of the spare sandal in his shorts pocket and smirked, "Anxious?"

"Hell yeah." He almost bounced in place, "I hate this thing."

"You know, most people have it anywhere from six to eight weeks." Sakura pointed out as she gathered the chakra in her finger tips, she grabbed Naruto's covered ankle and turned his leg to the side, before her chakra ridden fingers trailed down the side of the cast, cutting through it, before she turned his leg the other way and did the same.

She easily pulled the orange top off and helped him lift his leg out of the rest of the cast. "Lay down, dolt." she flicked his forehead before she took hold of his foot and started to stretch his leg up towards his chest, "Any pain?"

"Nope."

Nodding, Sakura gave the limb a slight twist, "How bout now?"

"Nope."

So far so good.

Letting his leg stretch out, Sakura placed the heel of her hand on the top of his foot and pressed down ever so slightly, "Now?"

"Nada, just muscle pulls."

"Good. Alright, get up, and try to stand on it, but don't put all your weight on it." She stepped back, her eyes and hands ready just in case the leg decided to give out.

Naruto slid off the table and slowly started to add his weight to his leg, just as Sakura ordered. He had learned that things just went better when he listened to her, then he could tease her. "Just normal aches." Naruto shrugged.

"Alright, you'll walk to the x-ray room then."

Naruto gave Sasuke a big smile and two thumbs up, "X-rays! Yay!"

Sasuke smirked ever so slightly; the Uchiha liked Naruto's smile, the blonde was just so happy it was infectious. "Don't get too excited." The Uchiha murmured as he trailed after his lover, his eyes intent on the hallway as Naruto moved down it as fast as he could. "It might still be fractured." Sasuke knew it wasn't the case, it had to be healed by now, but he threw it out there anyway -- just to poke at Naruto's little spark of happiness as always.

"Ah, c'mon! Don't be such a spoil sport!" Naruto called back looking over his shoulder and still following Sakura down the hall. He didn't seen the chair, this time his good foot caught it, making him trip in the middle of the hospital, "Wah~!"

Air rushed out of his chest as he landed flat on the floor.

He groaned and slowly started to push himself up.

He glared back at the chair and the snickering Sakura above him, "Hurt anything?"

"...shut up."

"Naruto." Sasuke murmured, watching as his lover pulled himself off the ground. "Try not to break anything on the way to the x-ray room."

The group of them made it to the end of the hall without any further instances.

Sakura had spoken with the x-ray technician, they had Naruto move to the special room as they shot the pictures.

Sasuke waited in the other room, setting himself down in a chair and letting out a grateful sigh as his feet finally had a rest.

Naruto tired not to wiggle on the table once more, as Sakura placed the projector over his leg, and threw the pad over his crotch, yelling at him not to move afterwards. He couldn't be mad, he was too excited. Keeping his leg still, he heard the soft _click-click_ of the internal camera go off, "Am I done?"

"One more!"

He let out moan, but sat still anyways.

_Click-click_

"Now can I move?"

"Yes, god, what are you five?" Sakura asked as she stepped out from behind the wall.

"Six actually, I'm six." He teased gently as he slid off the table determined to find Sasuke.

"Don't run, idiot!"

Naruto easily found Sasuke in the other room, where the technicians were, and hopped up on the chair Sakura had been sitting in. "I'm not broken!"

Sasuke got up out of his chair; dark eyes following the excited blonde, the fox's grin wider than his face almost. The Uchiha reached for the blonde's hand, his other on his belly as he steadied himself. "So we get to take a good bath then?" The Uchiha said in his usual low tone, his dark eyes soft as he regarded his lover.

"Hold on." Sakura's tone was exasperated, "The image is still uploading."

Naruto whined and let his head drop, "But I'm fine." He whined.

"Even if you are, you have Physical Therapy-"

"Since when have I ever gone to physical therapy?" Naruto countered.

"Now." Sakura said dangerously, "remember you broke both bones?"

Naruto's face scrunched up, "Just give me the exercise paper and I'll do them at home."

"God, Sasuke, how do you put up with him?" Sakura asked as she walked away from the computer and over to the cabinet to pull out the sheet and a long stretchy rubber band like tube and strip.

Sasuke rolled his eyes to his lover whom countered everything Sakura was saying. "I'm not sure." The Uchiha said easily, shifting his dark eyes on his lover before he reached to wrap and arm around his middle, pulling him close so he could set his chin on his shoulder.

Sakura set the images on the back-lit screen, her green eyes taking it in, trying to look for any flaws.

...nope.

He was just fine.

"Okay." Sakura said, clapping her hands, "Now you're going to have to go to physical therapy. I mean it."

Naruto took the tube and strip and paper and pouted at her, before he nodded, "Thank you, Sakura-chan." he smiled up at her as his hands pulled the tube back to snap at her exposed leg.

Sakura had turned her back on the fox, "Snap me with that tube again, and you're skull will be broken next."

Naruto froze, before he brought his hands together, and then handed the tube and strip to Sasuke, "Maybe you should hold this."

Sasuke shook his head, taking the items from the blonde; Naruto was so childish sometimes.

...not sometimes.

Always.

Sasuke let out a quiet sigh, not liking standing in one spot anymore, his irritation slowly creeping up his spine. "..can we go now?"

"Yes, yes." Sakura was irritated and exasperated as well.

Naruto hadn't even been there for a half an hour and he was causing problems. Standing up the blonde reached for his black flip flop and slipped it on his free foot. "Finally! To walk without a limp!"

As the two walked out of the hospital the fox folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket and carefully took the tube and strip back from Sasuke, also adding them to his pocket, he'd do the physical therapy later.

As they got closer to home Naruto moved to wrap his arms around Sasuke once more, "I hear a bath calling us…"

--

A/N:

I updated. See lookit, I updated and it was a fairly long chapter. Kareian has been kicking me and kicking me to update this. xD; I've been having too much fun on deviant art and started to neglect things.

Ah well.

There it was.

Next chapter is full of moody Sasuke. Please leave a review and tell us what you think so far.


	12. Chapter 12

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Twelve'

Sasuke was relieved to be home - all that walking put him back in a sour mood.

As Naruto wrapped around him he tried to relax, walking with the blonde awkwardly attached to him making his way down the hall to the bathroom.

…a bath would be so nice.

As the Uchiha entered the room he parted from his lover, turning on the taps and plugging the tub. The warm water hissed as it filled the porcelain basin, the Uchiha merely feeling the temperature as he set himself on the edge of the tub.

Naruto walked into the bathroom just after Sasuke and watched as his lover started to warm the water. Smiling gently, he moved so he could kneel in front of him and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist once more, pressing his lips to the large swell. His hands slowly trailed down the sweatshirt, and slid under the fabric slowly pushing it up. "I missed this."

Sasuke allowed the blonde to push up his shirt, leaving his torso exposed.

...he looked silly.

Sasuke always felt subconscious when they bathed, when they did anything naked now.

Sasuke's stomach was just so large; it was hard to get used to and he wondered how he looked in Naruto's eyes. "Mm." Sasuke agreed, trying to curb his welling discomfort, his dark eyes trained on the water, watching it fill.

Wordlessly he shut off the taps, slowly moved away from the blonde, letting his pants drop before he moved into the tub. He was intent on hiding in the water, set up against the back of the tub, his arms around his middle, a slight flush on his cheeks.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, a curious expression in his face. He wouldn't push it; he had picked up on the irritation on the way home. He had been told stress was bad for Sasuke and the baby. He smiled gently, a fondness in his face, moving to sit on the edge of the tub, where he easily stripped his shirt off before he slithered out of his shorts. Stepping into the water, the fox easily slid up Sasuke's body, placing soft kisses along the man's body before he found Sasuke's lips.

Sasuke's hands rested on Naruto's hips as the man moved up him - right between his legs as he made room for himself. As their lips pressed together Sasuke gently bit at Naruto's bottom lip, running his tongue along it before he let it dive into the blonde's mouth. He instantly groaned at his taste; having not deep-kissed Naruto in quite some time.

Naruto's let out his own breathy sigh as he felt Sasuke's tongue in his mouth. His hands were a bit desperate as he reached for Sasuke's jaw and neck.

He had missed that touch so much.

Sasuke felt Naruto's hands on his neck and jaw, holding him in a firm grip as the blonde continued to ravish his mouth with a vigor.

...it had been so long.

Sasuke wanted to stop this; but at the same time he just couldn't.

It felt so good to have Naruto against him, possessing him like this.

The warm water was soothing; the hot lips on his own and that sinful tongue tickling the roof of his mouth caused him to moan. His heart was fluttering in his chest; his hands roaming up Naruto's back to press the fox more firmly against him.

Naruto moved as close to his lover as he could, shivering at the feel of strong fingers against his back. He knew it wouldn't last, he knew that Sasuke would eventually pull back, ending the little intimacy that they had between them. Slowly pulling back, Naruto breathed heavily, his forehead resting against Sasuke's shoulder.

He had to stop…

If he didn't stop, he wouldn't be able to.

"Mm..." Sasuke purred as the blonde drew back, the Uchiha tilted his head back onto the tiled wall, his eyes closed his lips still parted as he caught his breath.

...that was good.

The Uchiha's dark eyes flicked to his lover from under thick lashes, looking at the fox's flushed face. He gently ran his hands along Naruto's spine, not shifting to get the blonde out from between his legs; enjoying him there.

After a long moment the Uchiha gripped under the blonde's jaw, lifting his skull and firmly planting his lips back on Naruto's.

…one more kiss wouldn't hurt.

Naruto let out a soft whimper, and tried to draw back, but those lips were so enticing, sinfully drawing him in. His hand slowly trailed over and up Sasuke's arm resting on his wrist.

...he had to stop.

Slowly pulling back, he turned his head towards Sasuke's hand, pressing his lips against the man's palm instead.

Sasuke was aroused.

Feeling a warmth in him; almost something compelling as the fox drew away from him, kissing his palm.

That's right…

They needed to stop.

The Uchiha didn't want to have sex in his awkward body; unsure how it would work, unsure how it would feel.

It was strange.

Yet the Uchiha found himself trailing his hands over Naruto's shoulders, down his chest before they moved back up along his shoulders, forearms, and ultimately at his hands. He drew the blonde's hands up to his face, tenderly kissing his palms and fingers before he let one hand fall back into the water - one still captive by Sasuke's smaller hands.

The Uchiha's black eyes regarded Naruto's bright blue, slowly he ran his tongue along his middle finger, dipping to his palm then coming up his forefinger. Wordlessly the Uchiha slipped both forefinger and middle finger into his mouth, his velvet tongue scooped under the digits; his mouth sucking pointedly. Sasuke moaned; letting his eyes slip shut, compelled by Naruto's salty flavor.

Naruto groaned, "Ahh, gods..." He let his head drop, his forehead resting on Sasuke's stomach. The slight sucking and soft tongue around his fingers was almost more arousing than the kissing.

Breathing heavily, he whimpered slightly, he needed to stop this.

But it felt so good…

"Sasu..." He purred out.

Sasuke knew he was torturing Naruto.

Maybe he was enjoying it too much.

Sasuke continued to suck on his fingers, his dark eyes looking down to the damp blonde head on his middle.

"Naruto." Sasuke moaned in his silken tone before he swept up those digits into his warm mouth.

...it was like he was just begging for a reaction.

Begging for Naruto to lash out at him.

Sasuke was indeed enjoying this a bit too much.

Naruto shivered, as let out a strangled moan as he tried to take control of his own growing need and emotions. He couldn't stop it, Sasuke had to, or he'd be yelled at. "S-Sas'ke.."

Sasuke chuckled in the back of his throat, slowly pulling the fingers from his mouth and ending the blonde's torture. He enjoyed the sounds the blonde was making though; the way he said his name. The Uchiha slowly shifted back into the tub, creating a bit of distance between them but not overwhelmingly so. He reached for the shampoo, spreading it on his fingers before he lathered his hair. Wordlessly he arched his back, neck and chest exposed as he dipped back into the water. He rubbed at his hair, his lips parted as he moaned softly to himself by the feel of his own fingers running over his scalp.

Naruto leaned back in the tub, his eyes closing, his wet hands coming up to rub at his face. Hearing the soft moan, he dropped his hands, his mind sending a small spark of concern through him, but froze when he watched as Sasuke arched in front of him purposefully.

God, he wanted him…

He rested against the other side of the tub, his eyes just scanning the pale, wet skin.

This just wasn't fair.

Sasuke seemed to just be having fun now.

Seeing how far he could go.

Subconsciously knowing Naruto wouldn't attack him back.

...it was fun.

Sasuke lifted himself back up; his wet blue-black hair framing his face, his skin flushed from the heat of the water as well as his own arousal. His dark eyes regarded the blonde at the other end of the tub. Sasuke slowly made his way towards the blonde, moving right up between his legs, laying on his side, one hand on the blonde's thigh the other near his hip. Sasuke's dark eyes had mock-concern, "What's wrong Hokage-sama?" The Uchiha asked with that added taunting purr to the blonde's title.

Naruto let his eyes closed as Sasuke slid into his body.

God...he was really starting to test his patience.

"You're teasing me." He let his eyes open back up, gazing back down at the dark eyes.

Sasuke remained against the blonde; his hand trailing along his thigh, the digits ghosting over the flesh as his head remained tilted up to the blonde. "…maybe." Sasuke smirked, his head resting on the kit's shoulder. He leaned into the blonde's neck, kissing the skin, moving up to his ear before he settled back again that same smirk on his lips.

The fox shuddered, and tried not to move his leg into the touch.

God damn it.

He let out a long sigh, trying to soothe himself and trying to ignore the feel of the hand. Naruto smirked back at Sasuke, his head moving to rest back against the tiled wall, his neck arching slightly, and his eyes closing at the feel of those lips against his skin again.

Sasuke's hand continued to roam along the blonde's thigh, his dark eyes taking in the kitsune's expression. Slowly he drew himself further onto the blonde; his lips finding home against his neck slowly sucking up the jugular to his ear. Sasuke's movements were deliberate; taunting almost as his fingers ghosted over Naruto's length as he bit at the lobe of his ear.

Naruto moaned loudly and tried so hard not to arch into the feathery touches that were taunting him.

No.

No, the baby- He couldn't-

He gasped as the sensitive skin along his neck was toyed with, it shot throws of pleasure down to his groin, making it harder to think.

Sasuke groaned into the blonde's neck, enjoying how the kitsune arched for him, how he moaned for him.

...gods.

Sasuke's hands trailed along his organ before they moved around his chest; just touching, mapping out what was his. Sasuke dragged his teeth and lips across Naruto's neck to his shoulder; sucking intently at the spot where neck met shoulder.

"Ahh!" Naruto was panting, nibbling on his lower lip as those pearly white teeth trailed across his neck and shoulder.

God, that was his biggest weak spot.

He was trembling with anticipation, with want, but he knew he had to stop it before it got out of hand. "S-Sasu, stop teasing." He breathed out; Better to be hated for a few hours than having Sasuke hate him for almost hurting the baby.

Sasuke set his forehead on the blonde's shoulder, tilting it so his cheek rested against the warm smooth flesh.

He knew he needed to end this.

Sasuke let his eyes slip closed, a small frown on his features as his fingers trailed gently along Naruto's taut belly.

"...fine." He murmured in an indifferent tone; taming his own heart rate and breathing.

...perhaps he had went a little too far.

_Breathe..just..breathe, Naruto_.

The fox closed his eyes, trying to change the mental image in his mind, from his pregnant, pale skinned lover to something more grotesque..

_Sakura naked? No…Kakashi naked, shudder...Baa-chan naked._

The process took a while, but the last idea worked. He could feel himself relaxing, and softening once more. Groaning, he let his forehead rest on Sasuke's shoulders, his hands on his lover's hips. "I_ really_ can't wait for that kid to be born."

Sasuke smirked at the underlying need in the blonde's voice. He curled himself as close as he could to the blonde; feeling the firm hands on his hips as he relaxed. "Why is that?" Sasuke purred against the kitsune's neck; apparently having not yet put himself into the process of de-arousing; still feeling a tad cuddly towards his warm lover.

The blonde really wasn't in the mood for teasing.

This strain was already hard enough...literally.

But, he tried to keep the irritation and anger out of his voice.

"I think you know." He said easily, letting his head rest back against the tiles once more.

Sasuke caught the slight bite of irritation and frowned, turning his dark eyes up to the blonde a long moment before he moved himself away from the fox. "It's cold." Sasuke said simply as he picked himself out of the slowly chilling water and moved to pick a towel off the counter. Wordlessly the Uchiha dried his hair before slipping the towel around his swollen waist intent on making it to the bedroom where he could snuggle under the nice warm sheets.

The water wasn't cold.

But Naruto knew that he hadn't succeeded in hiding his emotion from Sasuke.

Sighing, he rubbed his face with his wet hands and groaned.

Couch for him.

As excited about the pregnancy as he was, he hated it.

He missed his stable, mostly level-headed _skinny _Sasuke.

He loved his pregnant Sasuke just as much…

But skinny Sasuke...

Well, they had sex.

Pregnant Sasuke didn't.

Slowly pushing himself up out of the water, he reached for the plug and easily let the water start to drain, then grabbed his own towel. Might as well start that physical therapy, wear his leg out until it ached, then take a pain pill after making sure Sasuke had some food and some water and sleep on the couch.

-

A/N:

OMG. What is this? Might it be an update?

How long as it been now? Is anyone even still interested in this story? Well, I'm finally getting around to finishing it. I'm going to be posting chapters somewhat regularly and hopefully I can finally call this one done in the next year or so.


	13. Chapter 13

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Thirteen'

The months had gone by so fast.

Eight months and two and a half weeks along; Sasuke was as big as a house as far as he was concerned, about ready to pop. The Uchiha had stopped talking to Naruto all morning; the kitsune apologizing again and again but Sasuke didn't care.

...he had wanted to lay in bed all day with his lover; he was feeling bloated and heavy and sore, and he just didn't want to move.

...but Naruto had to go to an urgent council meeting, there was no getting out of it.

Whatever.

Sasuke sighed to himself, feeling thirsty and knowing he had to get himself out of bed and get it himself if he wanted a drink.

Naruto had been gone for about four hours now; he probably wasn't coming back anytime soon.

The war with the Rock country had been getting worse and worse...

The Uchiha pulled himself out of bed, feet on the floor, a hand steadying his stomach, the other on his lower back as he scooted slowly across the room and out into the hall.

Sasuke counted the steps in his head, trying to focus beyond the soreness in his ankles. After a few long tiring moments Sasuke had made it to the kitchen and was quite proud of himself. He had pulled a glass out of the cabinet, turned on the taps and started to fill the cup.

Ah...

Sasuke's brows furrowed as he shut off the water, the glass full. What was that? Did the baby kick again? Sasuke rubbed his belly in a soothing manner; his dark eyes a little confused as he took a few tentative sips of his water.

Sasuke drew in a sharp breath as another pain spasmed in his belly, up his spine, and ultimately made his legs feet weak. Sasuke steadied himself on the counter, the glass shaking in his hand as another pain shot through him. He was panting; confused and scared, what the fuck was going on?

He still had two weeks!

Ah..a…

Okay, maybe the baby was coming now.

Gods...

Sasuke tried to set the glass down but missed, the heavy object falling to the floor and shattering; the sound of water and glass hitting his ears. "Shit!" Sasuke hissed, his fingers digging into the tiles of the counter as his wild eyes glared around the space looking for something to help with what was going on.

Sasuke lifted his hand, creating the seal - chakra smoke billowing around his figure as he transformed. Standing in place of Sasuke was a female, long coiled curls all around her body; her feminine figure quivering from the force of the spasms in her belly. She felt wet; she didn't think it was from the fallen glass earlier, something told her it wasn't; something told her the baby was on the way.

Naruto!

Sasuke growled in the back of her throat trying her best to ignore the pains, her shaking hands gripping the counter as she tried to move around the space. She couldn't concentrate on avoiding the glass on the floor, trudging right through it - the pain not bad enough for her to care about, the stress in her middle more of a concern. Blood, water, and glass followed her out of the kitchen as she nearly ripped the phone off the wall. She dialed the number to Naruto's office; waiting impatiently; her breathing heavy as she whimpered in the back of her throat - her eyes pinched shut.

Pick up! Pick up god damn it!

Fuck!

It was just the answering machine...

"Naruto! Get you're ass home now!" Sasuke snarled into the phone, groaning as another pain hit her. "…gods, Naruto! Are you there? Pick up!"

Sasuke threw the phone to the floor, shattering it in her anger as she tried to disperse the pressure building inside of her. She didn't know Tsunade's number, she didn't know Sakura's - Naruto might have them written down somewhere but Sasuke had no idea where.

Sasuke used the walls for support as she made her way down the hall, trailing blood as she went; her feet numb as she focused on getting to the bed if she didn't collapse in the hall before then.

Shikamaru had noticed the light on Naruto's phone blinking. He frowned slightly, looking up from his papers.

...apparently he had missed a call on his trip to the bathroom.

Of course.

Shikamaru picked up the phone, dialed the recording, and waited for the message to hit his ears.

Shikamaru was momentarily alarmed by the ferocity in Sasuke's voice; as well as the underlying strain.

...weird.

Were they fighting again?

For some reason something told him otherwise.

Despite what he should do, Shikamaru decided to get out of his chair and make it up to the council room. They weren't supposed to be disturbed; they were undergoing quite the briefings before they set up a new plan of action against the Rock country.

…but, something told him this was really important.

Shikamaru knocked on the door a moment before he peeked his head inside. All eyes were trained on him, he cleared his throat, his cheeks slightly flushed.

He wasn't supposed to be doing this.

"Eh, Hokage-sama." He started, "Sorry to interrupt the meeting, Council." He bowed briefly, "Uchiha-san called and it sounds urgent..."

Naruto's brow raised slightly.

Sasuke knew that he was in a meeting...so why was he calling?

He felt eyes on him and he felt himself start to flush at the incredulous stares. He slowly started to push himself up out of the chair, "Um…I'll be right back…"

"Hokage-Sama, this meeting is-"

"I'll be right back." He insisted as he stood up and reached for his cell phone, and held down the power button. He ignored the fumbling voices of the council.

If Shikamaru said that the message sounded urgent, then it was mostly likely urgent.

Once the phone's jingle ended, and it had powered up he started to dial the familiar number to his house. Sliding out of the meeting room he walked briskly down the hall back to his office. Closing the door he heard the phone start to ring.

_C'mon, pick up._

Sasuke had made her way to bed, laid out on her spine, just trying to catch her breath. The pains were becoming more frequent, sweat starting on her brow as she tried to remember what Tsunade had told her about this moment.

Where the hell was Naruto?

Then the phone rang, the sound loud and jarring on the night table.

…damn it.

Sasuke forced herself up, groaning from the effort; reaching for the phone and clicking it on. "What?" She snarled, Naruto's voice hitting her ears - the blonde sounding stunned, "I told you to come home! Get-" Sasuke hissed, whimpering as a sharp pain ran up her side again. "..Nn..the baby.." Sasuke managed, her voice quivering.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "Baby?" He froze, the baby was coming? "O-Ok..um..ok." He felt himself start to panic.

The baby was coming, the baby was coming.

The meeting!

Shit!

"Ok, ok, I'm on my way." He turned and started to rush from the room, running into the desk at the same time, "Ow! Fuck- S-Sasuke it's gonna be fine." He slammed the door open, his wild eyes searching for Shikamaru, "I need to go - take over!" He heard Sasuke wince and quickly spoke into the phone, "Breathe, babe, you'll be fine."

Take over?

Take over?

Shikamaru had no idea what the hell was going on, and he was just going to jump into a meeting already four hours along?

Before he could retort, Naruto was already gone.

-

Sasuke heard Naruto's voice on the other end but it was hard to focus. Sasuke's eyes were pinched closed, her breathing uneven, unable to focus on the concentrated breathing Tsunade had taught her. "You...need to call Tsunade." Sasuke said in a strained tone, pained sounds following as she dug her fingers into the sheets, trying to find some ground.

"Okay...I'm calling her now." He started to jog down the hall way, "Ok, can you make it to the bathtub?" He asked, "The lavender bath oils should help slow down the contractions and pain." He looked down at the floor as he jogged down the stairs. "I'll call you as soon as I get off the phone with her, but I'm running out of the tower right now." He added, "Just hold on."

Bath..?

The phone went dead, the receiver next to her head as she tried to focus. The Uchiha turned her head towards the bathroom.

…could she make it?

Sasuke didn't like this; this inner struggle inside of her was hard to comprehend and fight back against.

The baby…

How close was it?

Should she be doing something else?

Sasuke tried to keep her breathing stable; her heart pounding in her ears, pains spasming in her belly she tried to force herself to her feet.

C'mon…

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in determination, focusing on the bathroom door, one arm out to stabilize herself while the other was on her swollen middle as if it might calm the hurting muscles within trying to push the child from her system.

Somehow she had made it, able to turn on the water and calm herself enough to ease down into the tub.

The Uchiha couldn't find the oils Naruto had been talking about; the warm water was welcomed - good enough as far as she was concerned, she didn't think she would have lasted moving around anymore.

Naruto had already called Tsunade, who was just finishing up in surgery and was going to be at Naruto's place in twenty minutes.

The fox tried calling Sasuke once more, but got nothing.

Okay, that meant she had gotten to the bathroom...hopefully.

Forcing chakra to his feet, the fox using his father's technique to get to his home quicker and faster than he normally could.

Pushing the front door open, the fox ran for the bedroom, and the bathroom where Sasuke's female form would be soaking.

"Sasu?" He caught sight of the girl into he tub, and knelt down next to her, his hands reaching for her face.

Sasuke opened her eyes at Naruto's voice, her cheeks flushed from the heat of the water as well as the slight hurt in her middle.

...it wasn't as bad as before.

But it was still biting up her sides; she didn't know what she should be doing.

...should she be helping it?

Was she hurting it by being in the water?

Uncertainty, fear, confusion, swam in her dark black eyes as they focused on her lover. "…where's Tsunade?" She asked in a quiet tone; knowing Naruto wouldn't have any of the answers she needed.

"Not twenty minutes out." He answered softly, his hands threading through the soft curls. "Just relax…you're going to be fine." He smiled softly; he needed to keep optimistic about this so Sasuke wouldn't panic. "Our baby is coming." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Sasuke's forehead. "Just relax, the pain'll go away...just contractions..."

Sasuke felt better with Naruto there, her hand reaching to lace through his, her head tilted back on the tiled wall as she tried to keep herself in control.

Tsunade rushed through the front door, which had been left wide open. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder. She had no idea how far the contractions were, or how Sasuke was handling the pain. She didn't know if things were alright and they could go to the hospital.

"Naruto? Sasuke?" She called out.

"Here!" Naruto's voice drifted through the hall ways. The fox turned back to Sasuke, within that twenty minutes the fox had found the blood and glass in the woman's feet. He was sitting on the edge of the tub, one of Sasuke's tiny feet in his hands, tweezers trying to pick out the tiny glass pieces.

Sasuke's dark eyes flicked up to the woman, her body relaxed in the tub as Naruto finished cleaning her feet of debris.

The contractions weren't that far apart, but enough that they didn't completely overpower her. She was used to the times they struck; the pains just causing her brows to furrow on occasion, but the warm water was still helping her aching muscles.

Naruto had found the oils and had added them earlier; the whole room smelling fragrant.

"Doing okay?" Tsunade asked, her gold eyes turned to the kitsune then to Sasuke; she carefully set the bag down starting to unpack it - knowing they'd need probably everything she had brought.

"...better." Sasuke said, not completely fine, the baby was still coming but she was doing much better.

Naruto carefully wrapped up the now dry foot and rested it in his lap with the other, his thumb gently running along the length of the smooth foot. "She's at two to three minutes intervals." Naruto answered, "I don't think we can make it to the hospital."

"No…" Tsunade sighed and gently took Sasuke's feet from Naruto's lap, "We need to move her to the bedroom." She moved Naruto closer to Sasuke, "Help lift her up, I'll get some towels."

Naruto nodded and knelt down next to Sasuke, "You have another minutes before the contraction." he murmured to the woman, "C'mon...sit up, we need to move you."

Move..?

Sasuke didn't want to be pulled from the water, the frown on her face evident as Tsunade and Naruto positioned themselves to start moving her.

She helped them as much as she could; her body feeling the weight of the child again as she got to her feet; feeling the starting of the same spasms. "...when will it come?" Sasuke asked in a quiet subdued voice; her dark eyes trained on the bed as they slowly made their way across the room.

"It just depends on how much you're dilated already." Tsunade answered honestly as she laid the towels out on the bed, and pulled out a hospital kimono for the girl.

Naruto easily scooped Sasuke into his arms; he could feel the water from her body on his arm, along with the blood, something he had read was normal. "You might be lucky." He reassured as he walked carefully into the bedroom, his pregnant lover in his arms. He carefully knelt down on the bed, gently setting her down. "Just breathe..."

Sasuke allowed herself to be positioned on the bed; Naruto having propped the pillows behind her so she was perched somewhat.

Tsunade was at the end of the bed, moving Sasuke's legs apart as she peered down the center of them and made the Uchiha feel a little uncomfortable.

One hand was on her middle, feeling the tiny pricks of pain again; a little closer together this time, but not too fast, she could still breathe and adjust.

Tsunade eyed the dilation of the woman; she still had a way to go, and by the way she was taking the contractions they weren't too bad just yet.

"Just stay focused, keeping breathing."

"How much longer?" Naruto asked as he sat down next to the girl, his arm looping around her shoulders, almost holding her to his chest.

"She's only dilated to eight centimeters..." She rested her hand on Sasuke's knee, "Almost there, only two more."

Naruto smiled down at his lover, and pressed his lips to her forehead, "Almost there…" He repeated.

Only 'almost there' took longer than what they had hoped.

Then...

Time was upon them.

Tsunade had deemed Sasuke ready; the brunette had started experiencing more and more pains but Tsunade had forced her to wait until this moment.

Her hands were fisted safely in the sheets - the older woman had deterred Naruto from giving the Uchiha his hand; knowing the Hokage's lover would only end up crushing it.

She had told Sasuke to push; and frankly she didn't need to be told twice. She wanted the thing out; she wanted the pain to go away - but found the more she urged herself to push the more painful it was.

It was a hard thing to keep doing; but knew she had to.

Sasuke yelled, grunted, and whimpered with effort, sweat beading on her white skin, her dark eyes shadowed with pain and determination.

Profanity and snarls of hate towards Naruto were also uttered, but Tsunade merely urged her onward.

It was a hard long process...

In total it took twenty-three hours of labor…

Sasuke's voice was hoarse, body exhausted, melted onto the pillows behind her - her body flush from the effort as the first cry of her baby sounded in her ears. She felt weak and numb; as she flicked her dark eyes across the space she noticed the blonde woman preparing the child - cleaning and wrapping it in a bright pink bundle of cloth.

In a puff of smoke the Uchiha was male again; too weak to keep the jutsu. Tsunade approached Naruto and Sasuke, a wide smile on her face, "A baby girl."

Naruto's eyes had been down on Sasuke, watching as his lover changed back into his male form, his body soaked with sweat, everything about him exhausted but he was so proud.

He glanced over to Tsunade, and the small pink blanket.

They had a baby girl.

A little girl...

Smiling brightly, the fox looked back at Sasuke and leaned down to press his lips against Sasuke's, "You did it." He breathed out, "You did it, Sasuke." He looked back over to the waiting woman and smiled gently, "Sasuke should hold her first." He nodded down to his lover.

Sasuke turned his eyes onto the older woman as she leaned down and set the warm bundle to his chest. Sasuke numbly wrapped his arms around the infant, tilting her towards him so his tired obsidian gaze could fall on his prize.

…this was all worth it.

Sasuke smiled a sincere, fond smile at the baby as her dark black eyes remained pinched, her little mouth set into an angry frown as upset mewls came from her. "Gods..." Sasuke breathed, his nose brushing over her soft forehead, his eyes slipping shut as he inhaled his child's fresh scent.

A family...

Sasuke finally had a family again.

There were no words to express what he was feeling in this moment.

Naruto smiled gently and rested his arm behind Sasuke's shoulders once more, just gazing down at their small bundle.

His little girl.

He knew the moment Tsunade had handed the little pink bundle over to Sasuke, and he had laid eyes on her, he was wrapped around that tiny finger.

His family.

They had a really family now.

"What's her name?" Tsunade asked quietly.

"Uzumaki-Uchiha Nariko." Naruto answered softly. He watched her from the safety of Sasuke's arms. She had two whisker marks on her cheeks, and fine blonde hair poked out from the little bundle wrap she was tucked into. "My Nariko…"

Sasuke held the child close to him; his embrace rather protective as he felt Naruto's arm wrap around his shoulder. His head was tilted back, his body completely relaxed as he curled into Naruto. Sasuke felt fatigue start to pull his limbs, his dark eyes slipping shut as he let out a contented sigh.

Tsunade smiled to the family, packing up her things, nodding quietly out of the room as she shut their bedroom door.

Naruto smiled gently and pressed a kiss to Sasuke's temple, "I need to change the sheets..." He murmured gently, his voice quiet as he didn't want to disturb the baby, "Can you walk?" He asked after a small pause, "Or do you want me to carry both of you to your chair?" He knew there was going to be no way of parting Sasuke from his their little girl, not yet anyways. He'd just have to keep them together for now, change the sheets, and try and get Sasuke into the shower, which would give him some time with their little girl.

Sasuke frowned, he had felt the pleasant tugging of sleep and then Naruto drew him back with that quiet voice.

...get up?

Sasuke groaned, shifting his weight but not feeling up to the challenge of actually getting up. "…do it later." Sasuke said in a lazy tone; hugging his infant closer - Nariko asleep, her little head hidden under Sasuke's chin.

"You aren't lying in all that...stuff." Naruto waved a lazy hand towards the bloody towels and mess left over. He made a small face, wondering why Tsunade hadn't cleaned it up. "That's just gross, and a new low for you." He teased gently. Shifting on the bed, he threaded his arms behind Sasuke's back and under his knees, and carefully lifted him up, "Just relax; I'll wake you up in a few minutes, okay? Just...hold on to her."

Sasuke felt as he was lifted from the bed, cradled in Naruto's arms for the brief moment before he was set down in his chair. The Uchiha opened his eyes, glancing to the blonde as he moved to clean up the mess on the bed. Sasuke tilted his head back against the wall, letting himself remain stable in his seat, their child held safely in the crook of his arm.

The movement hadn't caused her to wake up; which was a good thing.

He gazed down at Nariko, just drinking all of her in a long moment with his sleepy dark eyes before he leaned down and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

Naruto went about stripping the bed of its sheets and towels, grimacing at the mess.

The books hadn't said childbirth would be messy.

It smelled too, like blood and other things he couldn't quite place.

But, some how, Nariko smelled good, like this fresh smell that only babies seemed to carry.

The fluids and blood hadn't leaked through to the mattress or the waterproof sheet on top of that. All they needed was new sheets.

He walked down the hall and tossed the sheets into the laundry room, he'd get to them later. As he started back to the closet, he heard the shrill sound of a phone ring. He groaned, he'd been up well past twenty-four hours now, Sasuke and he had a new baby that only Tsunade and Sakura knew about, and he didn't want to deal with work…

Wandering into the office, he lifted up the cordless phone before he clicked it on and then off. Waiting two seconds he turned the phone back on, and left it on the desk, his family needed sleep.

It took him all but fifteen minutes to find the new sheets, and make up the bed, before he was kneeling back down by Sasuke, "Did you want to try and take a shower now? Or later?"

Shower..?

Sasuke was tired; but he also felt sticky and gross at the same time.

The Uchiha looked from his baby to his lover calculating a moment. Silently the brunette handed their precious bundle to his kitsune before he slowly dragged himself up off the chair.

The Uchiha moved across the room on shaky legs; picking through the dresser for a pair of warm pajama pants before he headed into the bathroom intent on taking a quick shower before he slipped in bed next to his lover and his new baby.

Naruto smiled gently as he watched Sasuke move about the room. This was probably the weakest he'd seen Sasuke, but this time it was welcomed. Naruto walked carefully over to the bed, and managed to hold Nariko with one arm as he opened up the covers.

This wasn't the first baby he had held, a year before Sasuke had came back, Sakura had dragged him down to the maternity ward, they had had a bit of a baby boom and needed some help. It was there, that he learned more about holding and dealing with babies, so when it came to holding Nariko, he was ready.

Stretching out against the bed, the blonde let out a soft sigh and let the baby girl rest against his warm chest. "You tired your mommy out." He teased as he reached down to poke her tiny nose; she had his nose, cute. "But don't let him hear you say that...well; _you_ might be able to get a way with it. I can't."

Twenty minutes.

The shower had been as quick as the tired Uchiha could muster; he had been awake for well over twenty-four hours, twenty-three of those hours were spent giving birth and he just wanted to crawl in bed and never wake up again. Sasuke tiredly walked out of the bathroom, his hair damp and sticking up in odd places, clad only in his pajama bottoms.

He slithered his way in bed, sighing at the feel of the night warm comforter over his sore muscles. He spooned himself against Naruto's side, his cheek against his shoulder as his dark black eyes looked down to the sleeping little girl on the kitsune's stout chest. He smiled gently before he closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of his daughter and his lover as he all but snuggled into the fox.

A/N:

I posted two chapters in a row 'cause I wanted to get to the point where Nariko was born. Soo, here she is! Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next one should be up in the next few weeks or so.


	14. Chapter 14

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Fourteen'

Naruto was well aware that Nariko would be relatively quiet for the first day or so, being born was a somewhat traumatic experience, or so he had read.

But after that first day, where Sasuke had slept almost the entire day away, Naruto was starting to understand why some mothers had issues with post partum.

She wouldn't stop crying.

Tsunade had been over, and showed them both how to feed her, to encourage her to suckle, to change her, wrap her, everything they needed to know.

The kitsune rubbed his temples and swore to himself, it was getting close to an hour. She had fed close to an hour before, she had burped; she hadn't needed a change, what the hell else could there be?

He gazed back at Sasuke, who was still lounging in bed, and continued to gently bounce their daughter, trying to soothe her into relaxing.

"Any ideas?"

Sasuke was propped up against the pillows, the shrill sounds of their daughter almost a backdrop he had started to get used to.

He gestured for the blonde to come over, "...c'mere."

Sasuke reached out for their child, his dark eyes soft as they regarded the crying infant. One hand roamed down her back, the other cradled her tiny head under his chin and slowly but surely she started to unwind and her crying turned to whimpers until they finally stopped.

Something about Sasuke calmed Nariko; most the time, not always, but this seemed to be one of those times and the Uchiha was grateful.

Nariko had curled herself into her "mother"; cooing as she turned her bright black eyes up to Naruto as if the crying fit before had never even happened.

Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes as he sat back in the bed and scratched his head, "I see how this is." he looked back at his daughter and made a face at her, "Already choosing favorites." Leaning back against the bed frame the fox shook his head, so much for having a way with kids.

_'Although...This just means Sasuke really is 'mommy''_, he smiled and snickered to himself. Moms were for comfort, and discipline, Dad's were for fun and playing.

He'd have his years later down the road.

Sasuke frowned at Naruto's snicker, gently rocking their daughter as she reached up and started to play with his lengthy bangs.

"What?"

Her tiny hand was holding a thick batch of black hair as Sasuke turned his sharp eyes on the fox - trying to look stern but that image had been shattered due to the cooing baby in his arms.

"Nothing, nothing." He leaned over and pressed his lips against Sasuke's. "Just thinking about the later years, that's all." He caught Sasuke's lips once more before pulling himself back and resting against the bed frame.

"Mm." Sasuke was contented with that answer, shifting so he was sitting a bit closer to the fox as Naruto relaxed against the bed frame.

Nariko seemed uninterested in Sasuke's hair now, her bright eyes on Naruto and reaching for him with her small hands.

Sasuke smirked slightly, his eyes a void of endless emotion as he gazed at the tiny little person - a living piece of he and Naruto's love.

Sasuke tiled his head back on the blonde's strong shoulder, moving so their child was closer to the kitsune.

Nariko seemed to be reaching up for Naruto's hair; which was much shorter than Sasuke's; but just as interesting apparently. The baby was going to compare, a curious little thing as her hands patted Naruto's chest with a childish urgency to get closer to the top of his head.

Nariko would grow so quickly.

These little moments would pass before they knew it.

Naruto looked down at Nariko when he felt her tiny hand against his chest, her curious eyes on him. He smirked at her, "Sure, now you want me."

He shifted a bit so he could hold her once more, holding the baby high up against his chest.

"Watch this, she's gonna cry again." he teased gently, moving his other arm around Sasuke's shoulders once more.

Sasuke looked to the blonde as the little girl was perched on his chest. His dark eyes shifted from Naruto down to their daughter whom seemed rather confused where she was.

She turned her head to Sasuke, then up to Naruto's bright smiling face and frowned.

The Uchiha couldn't help his slight smile at her little scrunched up face; her dark eyes clearly upset as they looked at Naruto.

Sasuke kept himself close to his lover; just watching the emotion play on his daughter's face.

Nariko at first wanted to be on Naruto; but now that she was out of Sasuke's care she was a little confused, unsure what she should be doing and immediately the tears sprang to her eyes and her cries started again.

She was still very young; still trying to cope outside of her mother's arms, and Naruto was still something to get used to apparently.

Naruto let out a deep chuckle, trying to keep it quiet, "You're only crying because I said you would."

Shifting, he shuffled Nariko back to Sasuke's arms.

"She's a mommy's girl."

Mommy.

Sasuke tensed to that; he birthed the baby, but he wasn't a female and therefore was not a mommy.

However; his original upset quelled as the baby was placed back in his arms; a protective warmth washing through his whole body as he held her close.

Her tiny face was turned to Naruto; her little hands fisted in the front of Sasuke's shirt. Once again she looked rather interested in the kitsune; but she didn't reach out for him again, safely observing from the Uchiha's arms.

"Just wait until I have to go on a mission."

"Ha! You're not going on a mission for the next 18 years." He laughed slightly, "With my luck, she'll only listen to you." He wanted to reach down and gently touch her, just to feel her, but was somewhat nervous about her crying again.

Naruto knew that he couldn't keep Sasuke from missions, they were still young, and Sasuke was the Anbu Captain, he was needed in the field, but really, he wasn't looking forward to Nariko crying in his office.

Sasuke smirked, raising his hand and gently letting his fingers glide down the curve of the child's tiny face.

She was still so new.

So soft and completely foreign.

Her black eyes shifted between her fathers before a yawn beset her and her big eyes squeezed shut from the force of it.

"I don't want to go..." Sasuke said in a quiet tone; for once not caring to ever leave the house, enthralled by this tiny little girl.

But there was a war.

Rock was still attacking them; Sasuke had been absent from the field too long and now he had something else precious to protect.

He wouldn't let anything harm Naruto or Nariko; Sasuke knew it was his duty to get back on the field, try to put his hand in the fight against the Rock ninja.

Not one of them would step foot in Konoha as long as the Uchiha was alive and well.

Naruto smirked and pressed his lips to Sasuke's temple, "I know, but between this house, you and the tower, I don't think much can get to her." he reassured.

He knew that they would have to go back to the tower, both of them. They would have to introduce Nariko to the others, and the fox had a feeling their daughter would steal their co-workers and friends hearts.

"She'll have the rookie nine wrapped around her little finger soon."

Sasuke chuckled in the back of his throat.

Nariko would have a loving home; a loving life, everything for the tiny child would be perfect.

The little girl's eyes had remained closed, her breathing even, her hold on the Uchiha's shirt failing as she relaxed in Sasuke's protective embrace.

Sasuke dipped his head low, his nose brushing along the top of the infant's skull; inhaling her sweet unique smell as his eyes slipped shut.

She would be loved, protected, and cherished.

\/\/\/\/\/\

A/N:

Chapter. Didn't think I'd ever get back to updating this, but I'm a little reminiscent and a little sad this story is one of the last that will ever be posted of ours.

Anyway. Thanks for reading, I'll have a few other chapters up shortly, this one was short, so I thought I'd post a few in sequence depending on how plot-heavy they are. I can't entirely remember.


	15. Chapter 15

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Fifteen'

Nariko was officially a month old.

Naruto's leave would be over tomorrow; and Sasuke would be put on his first mission back.

Currently the small family was getting ready for the introductory ceremony of Nariko at the tower. The kitsune had set it all up; wanting everyone to get acquainted with their daughter since they'd probably be seeing quite a bit of her once Sasuke started his missions again.

The Uchiha was dressed in a simple dark blue button-down and black slacks. He had finished dressing their child; she was wearing khaki pants with a light pink top. Over that was a green frog sweat-shirt; the hood on her head, little frog eyes on top as well as a nose and mouth.

She was definitely adorable.

Sasuke was feeling nervous.

Lots of people would be trying to hold her, to touch her; he didn't know if he could handle Nariko having all that attention.

...what if something happened?

What if someone dropped her or something?

Sasuke lifted the diaper bag over his shoulder, baby safely tucked in the crook of his arm, an apprehensive frown on his lips.

This wasn't a good idea.

Nariko was oblivious to Sasuke's upset, cooing happily as she kicked her tiny feet, the little bells on them chiming and keeping her attention.

"Naruto?" Sasuke called down the hall as he left Nariko's room; his dark eyes scanning the area for his lover.

Naruto was finishing buttoning up his white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the top two buttons undone, exposing part of his tan chest. He had tan colored khaki cargo shorts on, and black flip flops once more. He looked like hew as going to a frat party instead of meeting up with his friends at the tower.

He poked his head around the corner when he heard his lover calling for him and smiled gently, he caught sight of the uneasiness in his lover's eyes, "It'll be fine." He reassured. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Sasuke's lips, "Everyone will be careful with her." He promised, "We just won't let Kiba hold her." He teased.

"Mm." Sasuke didn't seem pleased; his mind elsewhere when Naruto had kissed him; trailing after the care-free blonde and looking everything like a fretting mother rather than the once feared Uchiha demon.

Sasuke cradled the baby easily as she began to fuss; wanting to be everywhere at once as they started down the steps and out into the wide bright world.

Nariko was enthralled by the sunlight, the bright sky, the birds, the sounds, the smells - everything.

The baby's eyes couldn't get any bigger as she gripped firmly at Sasuke's shirtfront; her bright eyes drinking in everything as they made their way to the tower.

Naruto smiled gently at the sight of his daughter's wide eyes and excited expression. He moved closer to Sasuke and started to reach for the baby bag.

"Here, let me hold that..." he chuckled as he started to loop the bag off of Sasuke, "She looks squirmy right now." He easily looped the black bag over his shoulder, the orange strap standing out against his white shirt. "Look on the bright side," Naruto started as they continued to walk towards the tower, "She'll sleep good tonight." he smirked.

It had been eight months, one week and three days since the fox had been with his lover.

He was almost used to it now.

Hopefully this would knock her out.

Nariko always had a knack of waking up in the middle of the night; crying and crying but never really needing anything.

It was like she just wanted to alert them; make sure they were still there.

Sasuke gently patted Nariko's back, trying to ease her squirms as they reached the tower; starting up the steps to Naruto's office where the party would be held.

Naruto had opened the door; Sasuke swallowed his apprehension unconsciously trying to hide his baby; Nariko cradled over his shoulder - her tiny hands playing with his hair.

…this was it.

They were here.

The gathering had already started Naruto and Sasuke late as usual.

All eyes turned on them; most of the men held back, though the females were drawn up to the Uchiha and Uzumaki.

Sakura grinned, tugging at Ino's arm and pointing to the baby Sasuke was holding. "I told you! They really had a kid."

Ino blinked, lifting her brows high on her forehead as the tiny tot's head turned in her direction. Nariko looked entranced by the two hovering faces; Sasuke's hand firmly on her back his scowl dark as he regarded Ino and Sakura.

"Wow..." Ino grinned widely, "She's so cute!"

Naruto chuckled gently and stepped slightly in front of Sasuke and Nariko, "Easy." He glanced back at Sasuke and raised an eyebrow, then glanced at Nariko, "She's a little overly curious right now-"

"She'll be fine, Naruto, just let me see her!" Sakura rolled her eyes and gently pushed her former teammate out of the way, she caught sight of the frog sweatshirt and smiled, "Awh...she's so cute." She cooed, her eyes flickering up to Sasuke's unsure eyes, "Can I hold her?"

Sasuke didn't seem to budge.

He frowned at Sakura's pleading eyes before he caught Naruto's stern blue. Sakura was the god mother of their baby; he should be able to at least let her hold her out of all the people in the room.

Reluctantly Sasuke lifted his infant and presented it to the pink-haired girl.

Nariko blinked as she was hoisted in the air towards this unknown female, her little feet kicking out to find ground.

Sakura grinned, reaching to hold the tiny tot, cradling her expertly to her bosom as she petted her little head. "Awwwhhh..." Sakura giggled; Sasuke standing rather close to the girl; peering nervously at her, his hands twitching to grab his child back.

Ino laughed, looking at the picture of Sakura holding the infant and Sasuke fretting just behind her shoulder. "From this angle it looks like you and Sasuke's baby." Ino said jokingly, her turquoise eyes on her friend as she gazed at the 'pretend' couple.

Sakura stuck out her tongue at Ino; her cheeks flushed.

Sasuke didn't seem to have caught anything Ino had said, his dark eyes rooted on his baby as she reached up to play with Sakura's bright colored hair.

Naruto made a small face, before he smirked and poked his head over Ino's shoulder and reached out to pull the frog hood off of Nariko's shoulder, "Really? Where'd the blonde hair come from?"

He stepped around Ino and moved over to Sasuke and wrapped his arms around his lover, trying to keep his mind off of not holding their daughter. He reached around and fished out the kyuubi doll and snuck it into Sasuke's arms a smirk on his face.

Sasuke started when Naruto came up behind him; apparently completely focused on their child. The Uchiha leaned back into his lover; his dark eyes following the infant's every move when something soft was put into his arms.

He looked down to it before he glanced Sakura and their baby.

Sakura was bouncing the child, cooing at her and Nariko was giggling; completely content in the girl's arms.

"Enough." Sasuke said in an even flat tone; reaching for little Nariko and easily scooping her out of Sakura's arms. He presented the child with the fox toy; it was hers now. Nariko didn't seem bothered when Sasuke took her away from Sakura; grabbing at the fox toy and gnawing on one of it's tails.

Sakura smiled, trying not to be upset that the Uchiha all but snagged the infant out of her arms. Sasuke was a little over-protective; or well, that was putting it lightly.

Naruto rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly, "You're so over protective." He reached towards his daughter and reached out to poke her. Watching her squirm, he pulled back and refrained from rolling his eyes.

He moved away from Sasuke and the hovering girls and moved to set the bag on the table and reached for a beer, leaning against his desk between Shikamaru and Neji. "Hey..."

Sasuke seemed to be viewing everyone like an incurable disease; not wanting any of them to come close to the infant.

...Naruto was allowed.

But Nariko always seemed to squirm away from him.

Sasuke stood stiffly off to the side; viewing Naruto then Shikamaru and Neji. He curtly offered them a nod; his stoic demeanor failing as Nariko climbed slightly on his shoulder, smacking the fox toy against his cheek.

The Uchiha didn't budge; not moving a muscle at his daughter's antics.

...it would have been cute if Sasuke didn't look like he was ready to kill someone.

Shikamaru took a swig of his beer before he pushed away from the desk. His dark eyes looked a tad curious as he surveyed the child Sasuke was holding. He drew his eyes over to Naruto; then back to Sasuke.

...they had a kid now.

Fucking weird.

Shikamaru downed the rest of his beer before he wiped his mouth, "What's her name?"

"Nariko." Sasuke responded, one eye closed as the girl was able to poke his eye with the fox toy's tail.

"And she's a mommy's girl." Naruto chuckled into his beer taking another swig of it.

Sakura looked back at Naruto and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"She won't let me hold her, she just cries." Naruto explained.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Umhm." the fox answered as he took another drink of the beer, "that," he tipped the top towards his daughter, "Is Sasuke's daughter. I just supplied the chromosomes."

Sasuke moved towards the desk; helping himself up on it easily, his legs folded as he set his child down in his lap.

Nariko's bright eyes took in everything around the room, tilting her head at Shikamaru; the man nervous under her bright black eyes. She giggled and reached out for him; Sasuke's dark eyes sharp as they regarded the shadow user.

Shikamaru itched the back of his head, unsure what he should do in this situation; cautiously he reached his hand out and Nariko's tiny hands grabbed at his.

...crap.

Shikamaru's expression was completely distraught; Nariko's tiny fingers wrapped around his bigger ones as she giggled up at him.

Sasuke's expression was unchanged; brooding and irritated and it made the lazy ninja nervous. Slowly Shikamaru drew back and Nariko frowned.

"Uh..congrats.." Shikamaru cleared his throat, "I'm..going to go over there.." He said with no real direction; pin-pointing Kiba and deciding to latch onto him.

Naruto frowned slightly as Nariko reacted positively towards Shikamaru.

Was it just him she didn't like?

"No, wait, wait, Shika, you try holding her." He wanted to see if she would cry, or if it was just him.

Shikamaru tensed as the kitsune called him back; sighing to himself as he ran a hand over his hair.

Jesus…

Shikamaru slowly trudged back, Nariko's expression excited as the shadow user returned, her little hands stretched out for him again. Shikamaru swallowed as the Uchiha reluctantly handed his infant to Shikamaru; his dark eyes narrow, ready to snatch her back in a moment. Shikamaru took the child, gathering her weight and letting her rest easy against him.

...it felt weird holding a baby.

She smelled strange too.

Shikamaru's cheeks were flushed as the little girl fussed in his arms happily, giggling and kicking her feet - the sound of bells hitting his ears.

Naruto expected the girl to start getting fussy, to start squirming, and tearing up.

What he got was the exact opposite.

He made a face and looked back at Sasuke, whose eyes were trained on Shikamaru and Nariko.

"It's official...she hates me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "She doesn't hate you."

Shikamaru slowly picked the girl from his chest and handed her back to Sasuke; "Uh..I'm..going to go now." He said again, hoping this time he'd be allowed to leave this awkward situation.

The Uchiha easily picked up his daughter, cradling her tenderly to his chest as if he hadn't held her in ages.

Nariko cooed, nuzzling her head against Sasuke's chest before her bright obsidian eyes turned on Naruto.

She stared at him a long moment; Sasuke turned his eyes on the blonde as well, wondering why Naruto was still frowning. "Don't be melodramatic, she likes you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and leaned forwards towards his daughter, the closer he got the more she started to squirm. Pulling back, he took a last swig of his beer, "Told you."

He set the bottle behind him and smiled at his friends, "Don't hog her, Hinata wants to hold her too." He smirked as he reached for another beer.

/\/\/\/\/\

A/N:

Chapter, chapter. Nariko-filled. Cute, hopefully?

Plot gets to moving eventually, it's kinda just family stuff right now, introductions. It does move, promise.


	16. Chapter 16

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Sixteen'

It had been a long, long day.

It was dark, the sun had set and finally the party was over. Naruto said he'd deal with the mess at the tower tomorrow; and Sasuke just wanted to get home.

Nariko was held against his shoulder; her face slack as she had fallen asleep a little while ago. She was out like a light, her even breathing comforting to the Uchiha as they walked down the street.

Naruto still seemed irked over the fact that everyone could hold their daughter but him; and it upset Sasuke too.

...he wanted Naruto to hold her.

But every time she did she burst out crying; screaming almost like he was hurting her.

Sasuke frowned thoughtfully to himself before he reached out with his free hand and took Naruto's reassuringly in his own. He glanced to his lover before he looked up at the starlit sky and the bright white moon shining down on them.

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, feeling his lovers hand within his own. He smirked gently and glanced up at the sky for a brief moment before he looked down the road, their house coming into view. "She'll probably sleep most of the night." Naruto started, his voice soft, "Maybe we'll be able to sleep through the night." he snickered slightly.

"That'd be nice." The Uchiha said sincerely, coming up on their home the duo walked into the gates and up the steps to the porch.

Everything was dark; navigating by moonlight in case artificial light would wake the sleeping infant. Sasuke parted from the kitsune, cradling the baby as he came upon her room.

He took off her sweatshirt, her shoes, unbuttoning her pants and checking if she needed a change.

...she didn't.

He reached for her soft pajama bottoms, wiggling them up her short pudgy legs before he took up her orange baby blanket and swept it over her form.

She kicked her feet, murmuring to herself as she remained in dreamland. Sasuke remained perched at the crib a long moment; a gentle expression on his face as he viewed Nariko bathed in silver moonlight.

Naruto paused at the nursery; he had unbuttoned his shirt, exposing just a small line of skin. He slowly poked his head in to the room, but hovered by the sliding door, he didn't want to enter the room, in fear of waking his daughter.

He could barely see her through the crib bars, his light colored skin almost glowing in the moon light.

He wanted to go over there, to relax at her crib side and just gaze lovingly at her.

But he couldn't.

Sasuke hadn't seen him, or acknowledged him yet, still gazing at their daughter; Sasuke's daughter, more like it.

Rolling off of the frame he started back down the hallway, towards the kitchen, hoping to find a small snack.

So much for sleeping, or sex tonight.

Sasuke slowly turned from Nariko; not having noticed Naruto's little peek-in. He slowly started to un-button his top, it felt confining and he was definitely ready for sleep.

...he had stressed himself out at the tower; all those people touching and holding Nariko it was driving him up a wall.

But, that was over now.

Nariko was safe asleep in her crib.

Sasuke had rounded the corner to their bedroom when he noticed it empty. He frowned; turning on his heel, past the guest room and past Nariko's closed room.

He walked out into the living room, out into the kitchen where he found the blonde poking his head into the fridge.

"What're you doing?" Sasuke asked as if it wasn't obvious; making his way across the space, torso exposed as his un-buttoned shirt caught the air of his movement and caused it to flutter.

Naruto didn't look up as he heard Sasuke's voice float through the kitchen. "Hungry." He answered easily, as he closed the door and turned towards the cabinet. He opened it up and pulled out a cup-of-noodles, and started to unwrap it, "I thought you were going to go to bed." His voice was even, and a bit curious.

Sasuke leaned up against the counter in the kitchen, his arms crossed as he surveyed the fox as he started to make his cup of noodles.

…the blonde hadn't looked at him.

The Uchiha tilted his head to his lover, "I'll wait for you." He said simply, eyeing the blonde's back.

Naruto shook his head, and easily started to fill up the Styrofoam cup with the instant hot water, "It's fine…I have some work to go over before I go back to the tower." He answered.

He was hiding really; he didn't want to face the issue that Nariko, for some odd reason, didn't like him. Everyone at the party had been able to hold her, and she hadn't fussed, not once, only when he was around. The realization had killed his mood, he knew his mind wouldn't shut off, and he wouldn't be able to focus on his lover...

The only thing left for him to do was try and get some work done.

Sasuke eyed the tenseness in Naruto's back as the man moved around the kitchen, avoiding him as he prepared his food.

...now he was going to work in his office?

Sasuke sighed quietly, closing the distance between them, coming up behind his lover and wrapping his arms around his waist. "What's wrong?" Sasuke said flatly, his chin perched on the blonde's shoulder, his lips against his neck.

Naruto stilled as Sasuke slid up behind him, his eyes downcast.

He really didn't want to talk about this.

"I just have a lot of work." He murmured softly, "Shikamaru can only do so much by himself." His head had dipped forward, the warm, moist lips brushing against he exposed skin of his neck.

Sasuke frowned slightly as Naruto murmured almost to himself; his head falling forward as he ignored Sasuke's little kiss to Naruto's neck.

..mm..

Sasuke slowly parted from the fox, "Fine." The Uchiha said simply, walking out into the living room - down the hall before he made it to their bedroom and clicked the door silently shut.

Naruto would be going back to work tomorrow.

Sasuke would be getting a mission.

...and yet Naruto wanted to be alone.

Whatever.

Naruto cursed quietly to himself, and let his head drop to his waiting hands.

He couldn't handle this.

Sasuke was mad at him now, their first night alone and he couldn't bring himself to be with him.

He would be swarmed with work for an infinite amount of time.

The war was getting closer to home.

Sasuke would leave for a mission, leaving Naruto with Nariko.

And Nariko…

He couldn't get near her.

How would he be able to care for her when Sasuke was away?

Sliding down the counter, the fox let out a sob, and leaned against the counter, and moved one hand to cover him mouth, to muffle the sounds.

He was breaking down.

/\\\\/\\\\/\\\

Morning…

Had to be.

The light was stinging the Uchiha's closed eyes and for a moment he didn't know where he was. He turned, expecting to be pressed up against Naruto but he fell into nothing.

He propped himself up, looking around the space and remembering the awkward night before.

...something was upsetting Naruto.

Sasuke sighed quietly, picking himself up out of bed, and moving to the dresser to pick out his Anbu clothing. Silently the Uchiha dressed, strapping on his armor and weaponry, the whole get-up feeling foreign now.

...he hadn't put on this familiar garb in quite some time.

He would be going to war soon.

And, Naruto hadn't even slept next to him.

The Uchiha replaced the mask over his face, steadying himself a moment before he walked down the hall, glancing to their child's empty room and expecting it.

Naruto would have left early for the tower; Nariko with him so Sasuke could catch a few more hours of sleep before he was sent off.

Sasuke made it out of the home, down through the garden and finally on the path to the Hokage's tower.

/\\\\\

Naruto sighed heavily and rubbed his tired eyes as he stared at the mission report that Sasuke would be leaving on in an hour or so.

He hadn't slept much the night before.

Looking over to the portable crib, he gazed at his sleeping daughter.

She had fussed and cried the entire way from the house to the tower, only stopping once Naruto had managed to get her settled.

What was it about him that she didn't like?

How, at only a month old, did she not like him?

Sasuke had walked up the spiral stairs to Naruto's office, opening the doors without knocking, his dark eyes sweeping across the room skipping from the crib to his lover. He pushed the mask aside, revealing his stoic expression as he moved in front of the blonde's desk.

He caught sight of Naruto's tired eyes and the batch of papers strewn across his desk. "…mission report." The Uchiha said simply, standing before the blonde his dark eyes trying to pick out the emotion in his eyes.

...had he done something wrong?

Was Naruto upset over the way he acted at the tower?

Naruto blinked and looked up at the sound of Sasuke's voice.

He stared at him for a moment, before he sighed and set the paper down, but didn't indicate to which one it was.

"I'm not angry or upset with you." He started his eyes flickering back to their daughter. He wanted to fix some of this before Sasuke left, it was never safe to send someone out to the field when they had had a fight with a married one, lover, anyone.

Sasuke was subdued a bit by Naruto's tone, watching as his blue eyes flicked to the sleeping infant. "…then what is it?" Sasuke asked quietly, glancing to the paper before the blonde but not moving forward to find his report just yet.

The fox sighed and leaned back in his chair, "...You saw how she was last night." he started his voice soft. "..She didn't fuss with anyone last night, no one." he glanced over to Sasuke, "It's just me." He rubbed his face, his body almost slumping in his chair, "..there's something about_ me_ that she doesn't like."

Sasuke slowly rounded the desk, perching on the kit's work space, not caring as he messed the papers up. He folded his legs, leaning down and taking the kit's chin in his hand, forcing the blonde's head to lift towards him. "She likes you." Sasuke said in an even tone before he caught Naruto's lips in a lingering kiss. "She always reaches for you, she watches you, she likes you're smell - whenever I give her your shirts to play with she likes them over mine."

…though why she didn't like to actually touch the blonde, that was a mystery.

But Nariko was definitely curious for him.

Naruto slowly shook his head, tears starting to well up in his eyes, "Sasuke.." he murmured, his voice almost breaking, trembling. "I can't hold my daughter.."

Sasuke looked down at the blonde with a wounded expression; unable to quell the hurt inside of the fox, unable to make everything better.

...something about him just repelled Nariko the moment she came in contact with Naruto.

Sasuke didn't know how to fix that.

Slowly the Uchiha set his hands on Naruto's face, thumbs gently brushing away the tears as they fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry.." The Uchiha murmured softly, placing comforting kisses on the blonde's brow - wishing he knew what to say, what to do to make this alright.

Naruto drew Sasuke close, pulling him into his lap and holding him close. He tried to keep the tears back, but it was hard. "You're going to be gone for almost a month..." he breathed out, "How am I suppose to take care of her?"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders, one hand threading into his soft spikes as he just held the kitsune to him in an almost demanding hug. "You'll be fine.." He said gently, unsure if it would be so easy for the blonde to care for a child he couldn't really touch. Sasuke kissed his temple, his eyes closed as he tried to think of something to say that would ease him. "…you can always call Sakura or Tsunade to help."

Sasuke would be gone at least a month.

He'd miss a month of his daughter's life, and he'd be away from Naruto for four long weeks.

Sasuke sighed quietly; this was going to be a trial on both of them. The Uchiha was getting a little too used to being around Naruto and Nariko.

...it'd be weird to be alone; to be back with his squad, to be fighting again.

Naruto let out a sigh and thought about what Sasuke had said.

Honestly he had thought about it, but it just made him feel more like a failure.

"..I'll call Tsunade if it doesn't get better.." He murmured.

He didn't want to send Sasuke out, but he had to the Village needed their Anbu captain.

He liked his family being home, he liked being able to cuddle with Sasuke, when he could.

"Just...stay safe out there…" He murmured softly.

/\\\/\\\

A/N:

Sasuke heads out on his first mission! Okay, last chapter of the evening. I'll try and post another in a week or so, or earlier than that if I get in the mood again.

Thanks for reading. There is still a lot underway for these two.


	17. Chapter 17

"Forever Entwined"

'Chapter Seventeen'

The mission went well.

Over all it was an easy scouting trip. The Rock seemed to have pulled back from where they were before; perhaps scoping out the territory before them.

It was safe to assume they would probably be lashing out at Konoha soon - they had something up their sleeves but Sasuke's team wasn't able to meet up with any of the enemy ninja to find out exactly what.

No fighting; just a long camping trip almost. Disappointing, but at the same time the Uchiha was grateful.

He didn't want things getting too bad.

He still wanted to be able to return home to his family.

Sasuke's team had returned to Konoha, walking the familiar path to the Hokage's tower; up the spiral steps to Naruto's office.

They were unkempt; but in fine shape, nothing exciting happened.

Sasuke pushed the doors open, skewing the mask on his head as his ears caught the shrill sound of Nariko's cries.

Sasuke's dark eyes swept the space to his kitsune and then to the portable crib where Nariko was balling her bright black eyes out.

Sasuke's heart clenched to the sound of his infant; he missed her. The Uchiha didn't care that his team was in the room; in a rush of movement the Uchiha was at the crib, reaching down for his child.

He lifted her in his arms - she had gotten bigger while he was gone; she'd been eating well.

Nariko was confused a moment before her eyes fell on Sasuke; lifted in the air her little hands reaching for his face. She giggled and kicked; tears still in the corners of her eyes as she all but screamed her merriment at her mother's return.

Sasuke hugged the baby to himself, caught in an intimate moment his team might be a little embarrassed at viewing.

Sasuke the great emotionless ninja; a puddle of cooing goo as he coddled his infant.

Naruto looked up sharply at the sound of the door opening, over Nariko's cries. He had just set her down not a minute before Sasuke had come into the room. He blinked when he realized the black figure moving to the crib was only Sasuke. Breathing out in relief he shook his head at the man, "You scared me." He laughed slightly before he glanced at the rest of Sasuke's confused squad. "Awhs, did you not tell them about your little bundle of joy?" The fox asked as he glanced back at Sasuke, who seemed too engrossed in their daughter.

"What?" Shinya asked slowly.

"That's our daughter...Nariko." Naruto nodded towards the little girl.

Shinya and the others looked over to Sasuke.

Seriously?

Nariko's little hands were playing with Sasuke's hair, grabbing and tugging at the soft raven locks - causing the porcelain mask to fall off his head and to the ground. The Uchiha didn't seem to care, rubbing his child's back and just inhaling her sweet scent.

...he didn't know why he felt so attached; like a warm feeling all over him, soothing and compelling.

Sasuke turned his dark eyes on his team at Naruto's playful taunt; glancing to his second in command before he regarded the rest of the group. "Mm." Sasuke paused, remaining near the crib not taking a step towards his ninja or Naruto. "She's two months old."

The youngest of Sasuke's team looked at the Uchiha in pure confusion.

...then it hit him.

Taichou hadn't been sick…

...he'd been pregnant.

The group stood awkwardly in the room, unsure what was to be said.

They just found out their -male- leader had given birth to a baby.

The hell?

Naruto smirked, and tried to hide the growing grin.

He wished he had a camera.

He covered his lips and glanced back at Sasuke, his eyes mirthful.

He hadn't told them.

"I wish I had pictures of that night." He chuckled.

Shinya looked back at Naruto, "How…did this..?"

"Sexy-no-jutsu." The fox laughed.

Sasuke was irritated by Naruto's laugh, unsure what was funny.

Mommy.

Sasuke tensed; that's what he looked like.

The Uchiha kept his frown, turning his eyes on the wide window, "Dismissed." He said stonily, still holding the merrily cooing infant.

Nariko tilted her head to Sasuke's stern expression, blinking her wide black eyes, her hands on his chest. She couldn't gain his attention, her little lips tugged into a frown as she turned her eyes to the group of ninja behind him. Her eyes were slitted in a vulpine manner; though her lips were tugged in an almost Uchiha-like frown.

...yup.

She was definitely their kid.

Naruto smirked as the others left, his eyes on the confused bunch and closing door. "That was fun." He smirked and glanced back at Sasuke's hard eyes. He caught sight of Nariko frowning at Sasuke, "You're daughter is pouting."

Sasuke moved towards Naruto's desk, perching on the end of it before he let his eyes fall back on Nariko. The little girl was positioned comfortably in his lap, bouncing her slightly as her pout became a smile.

Sasuke liked her smile.

It reminded him of Naruto.

He turned to the blonde, raising his hand and caressing Naruto's cheek gently. "How was it?" He was referring to the time he had been away.

Naruto's eyes fluttered closed and he groaned at the feel of warm skin against his, "On the brink of hell..." He murmured. "Crying every time I touched her." He shook his head. "I don't know anymore." He glanced back up at his lover, letting his happy facade go, letting the worn features to be seen. "Sakura couldn't figure it out either."

Sasuke frowned slightly, the girl happy in his lap, tugging at his armor as she tried to gain his attention. The Uchiha was focused on Naruto; on his tired eyes and strained face. "Did you have Tsunade try and check things out?" Sasuke said; finding it rather strange.

"She was with you a whole month without me." He turned to the infant now, her bright black eyes giving away nothing of her mystery as she nuzzled her little face into Sasuke's middle. "I don't understand it."

Nariko liked Naruto; she'd look at him and you just knew she loved him; but then…

Why wouldn't she let him touch her?

Naruto sighed and glanced back at Nariko, he wanted to hold her without her crying.

"I haven't called Tsunade." He answered softly. "She kept crying, it was really hard on both of us." He murmured, as he tried to reach out to her, but he watched as she squirmed and dropped his hand.

"I don't know."

Sasuke was at a loss.

He was bouncing their child, his dark eyes on Naruto a long moment before he lifted up Nariko in his firm hands; presenting her to Naruto.

Her dark eyes flicked from Sasuke to Naruto; her lower lip starting to quiver.

"Hold her." Sasuke said, "I'm here, hold her close to me."

…maybe it was a proximity issue?

Sasuke was going to try and figure this out.

Naruto sighed heavily and stood up reaching for their daughter.

She was already tearing up as Naruto's hands came in contact with her skin. He carefully picked her up and cradled her to his chest. He moved over to sit on his desk, right next to Sasuke, their shoulders touching.

Nariko started to wail, large tears dripping down her cheeks.

"See."

Sasuke didn't understand it.

The Uchiha tried petting her head, down her back, but she still kept wailing. She kicked and flailed, her black eyes nearly pained as she looked from Naruto to Sasuke. She reached out for her mother but Sasuke refused to take her and Nariko cried harder almost in frustration.

…it was strange.

She looked so pained, her little faced screwed up; her cries almost urgent.

Why..?

It hurt Sasuke's heart to have her cry like this, but he wanted to understand. He wanted to know why Naruto holding her was such an issue and then...

Nariko's chakra spiked; catching the brunette off-guard, her black eyes flashed as she nearly exploded from the fox.

What the…?

Sasuke reacted at a moment's notice; Naruto stunned as the little girl popped away from him; the Uchiha catching her expertly a short distance away and cradling her gently to his chest.

Sweat was on her forehead; an odd pinched expression on her face, her tiny hands fisted urgently in Sasuke's shirt.

What…?

That had happened, right?

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, his brows knitted together, "What happened just now?"

Naruto blinked, his hands still outstretched out where Nariko seemed to propel out of his grasp. He slowly closed his eyes and let his hands drop. "I...I don't know." Reaching towards his chest he rubbed at it, he felt as if something had pushed against him. He hadn't caught the chakra burst, but he had felt the push of it. "…d-did she just push me?"

"…her chakra spiked." Sasuke murmured softly holding her safely against him, her face slowly relaxing back into childish happiness.

Her dark eyes peered up to Sasuke innocently again; cooing at him hoping to gain his attention.

Sasuke was focused on Naruto, shock still apparent on his face. "Do you think it might have something to do with..." Sasuke paused, it was a strange theory, but what else would it be? What else would make sense? "..with you're demons?" He glanced to Nariko, looking at the two identical grooves in her cheeks. "Do you think she might have some of the kyuubi in her?"

Naruto's brow furrowed.

Kyuubi?

Blinking, he reached down for the hem of his orange tee shirt and pulled it up to look at the seal.

The black ink was standing out against his tanned skin.

But he hadn't used chakra…

The fox dropped his shirt and stared at the girl before he moved to sit back in his chair.

"I'll call Tsunade."

/\\\\\/\\\\\/\\\/\\\

Tsunade had been there a little over an hour now. Nariko was perched in her hands, cradled against her generous bosom as her expression turned thoughtful.

Sasuke had watched the woman intently; his eyes never leaving the way her glowing hands passed over his daughter and more than once did Naruto have to put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from going over and taking Nariko back.

The little girl was looking at her fathers whom were sitting on Naruto's desk, her brows knitted and a forceful pout on her lips as she whined for them.

...that look was what made the Uchiha antsy.

He wanted to go over there; coddle her and make her smile. But Naruto wouldn't let him; their hands laced together but it was more of a restraint than a reassurance.

"Well..." Tsunade's voice broke the tense air, "She's a healthy baby girl, but there's one thing that makes her different from normal children."

Confusion bled into Sasuke's eyes, "What're you talking about?"

"She has a demon inside of her."

"So? Naruto has a demon in him, what does it matter?"

Tsunade sighed, waving her hand, "Sasuke, I'm trying to explain this, stop snapping at me!"

The Uchiha wanted to retort but thought better of it, keeping his scowl as his foot bounced in irritation.

"Apparently when Naruto reproduces so does the Kyuubi." She started slowly, "Nariko was born with a demon; Naruto wasn't born with it. Sealing her Kyuubi might cause problems, but the Kyuubi inside of her makes it impossible for her to be close to Naruto."

"Why?" Sasuke poked in again; his tone edged.

Tsunade gave him a pointed look before her eyes fell on Naruto; the woman walking up to the parents. "Their chakras are similar but different; they seem to repel each other and since Nariko is so young she doesn't know how to control that and the feeling scares her, a reason why she cries and tries to get away from Naruto."

Sasuke turned his eyes on his lover then down to their infant who was reaching her arms towards them but Tsunade kept her away; just enough.

Nariko's little whines were hard to ignore.

"I can seal her demon..." Tsunade began, "But I'm not sure how that will affect her normal chakra development or natural growth."

Naruto quietly took in the information and sighed heavily.

"Call for Hinata." He murmured softly.

Tsunade looked over at the blonde and raised an eyebrow, before it hit her.

The Hyuuga's could see chakra channels, and would be able to tell whether or not Nariko's system held more than one channel, much like Naruto's.

"I'll call her." She answered as she stepped forwards handing the squirming, whimpering girl to Sasuke.

Sasuke held his child gratefully; Nariko smashing her tiny head against Sasuke's collar as her little hands tugged on the front of his shirt. The Uchiha gazed down at Nariko's pure black eyes; unsure what might happen soon.

Would they be able to seal her?

…was that a good idea?

Would it hurt Nariko?

Sasuke frowned; his fingers ghosting over her tiny head, his uncertainties channeled in his gentle touches.

Hinata had entered the room with Tsunade not fifteen minutes after; the shy girl turning her gaze on Naruto and Sasuke and the little child she had met a month prior. She slowly walked up to them, her cheeks flushed - though Tsunade cut in for her, "Hand her Nariko." Tsunade commanded of the Uchiha; knowing prying the girl from Sasuke was a difficult task in itself.

...such a protective mommy.

Tsunade grinned to that; watching as the Uchiha plopped his daughter in Hinata's waiting arms.

The girl activated her blood line eyes; looking down to Nariko as the baby stared right back up at her apparently intrigued by her strange eyes.

"Orange and blue." She said in a soft tone; Nariko was a pure mix of Naruto and Sasuke.

Kyuubi and Sharingan flowed within her.

Tsunade nodded and smiled gently, "Well, the good news is she can be safely sealed."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and shifted a bit closer to Sasuke.

There daughter would be sealed, trapping the Kyuubi power from her.

"That's good."

Tsunade smiled gently, "Tomorrow sound good?" She asked gently, "Your place, she's not going to like this."

Hinata had dismissed herself from the room, the door shutting quietly behind her.

Sasuke held Nariko in his lap, his free hand joined with Naruto's. "Tomorrow is fine." The Uchiha said evenly, looking down to their smiling tot.

"Good, it will be a bit painful." Tsunade added after a moment. "It'll be sealing a part of her chakra." She explained, "So, both of you will need to be home tomorrow."

Naruto nodded, "Okay."

Painful?

Sasuke held his daughter closer; but didn't voice his upset over it. Nariko couldn't handle the demon's chakra; it might start growing before she was ready and what then?

Not to mention Naruto couldn't even touch her this way.

The Uchiha nodded to Tsunade; his dark eyes guarded, "We'll be home."

Tsunade let out a quiet sigh, waving her goodbye to the two men. "Tomorrow then. See you." She left the office just like that; the door shutting silently behind her.

Naruto didn't know what to feel the moment Tsunade left.

He couldn't help but feel like this was his fault.

He had passed his demon on, and his daughter was paying for it.

Sasuke turned his eyes on Naruto; Nariko's expression sleepy as she looked to the blonde, her head tilted on Sasuke's chest. "…you'll be able to hold her." Sasuke ventured; unsure what to make of Naruto's expression.

Naruto nodded slowly, he would be able to hold his daughter without hurting her. "But I passed on something that should never have been passed on." He added softly. "Now she has to pay for it?" He looked back at Sasuke and slowly shook his head.

Sasuke was quiet a moment, his dark eyes looked to the small child whom had now fallen asleep.

Her little face was contented, her hands in little fists as she relied on Sasuke to keep her stable in his lap. She had the whisker marks on her pudgy cheeks; the sprouts of blonde hair, she looked like Naruto with her eyes closed like that - nothing but the black eyes seemed to hint at Nariko being Sasuke's.

"We don't hate you." Sasuke said quietly before his eyes flicked up to his lover; hand moving up to cup Naruto's face to bring him close - their lips touching. "Don't be upset over it." The Uchiha murmured, pulling back slightly, "She'll be fine, she'll learn to grow with the kyuubi just like you did."

Naruto would have protested but found that there was nothing really to protest.

He had grown up trying to figure out the mysterious power, with no one to really guide him.

Nariko would have that; she would have people helping him.

"I know." He sighed heavily, "But I thought that it would end with me, I didn't think it could be passed on."

Sasuke looked down to their child; just watching her sleep in his arms, his thoughts starting up in his mind. "...if you knew she was going to have Kyuubi," Sasuke started, "Would you not have wanted her?"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke as if he were crazy, "Are you kidding?" He asked, "She's my life." He wanted to reach out and touch her. "I was just overly hopeful that it really wouldn't pass on." He looked back up at Sasuke, and smiled gently, "I don't regret her."

Sasuke looked relieved; a soft smile on his lips as his dark eyes remained on their sleeping infant. "...she'll be fine."

She would have the demon sealed.

She'd get over it.

She had two great ninja to guide her through life; she would have a very loving home, nothing would happen to her.

Naruto nodded slowly, his eyes fixing on Nariko once more.

She would be okay, but still.

He'd forever feel guilty for bestowing her with his curse.

"Yeah, you're right."

/\\\\\/\\\\\/\\\

A/N:

Another chapter. Thanks for reading. The sealing and such happens next chapter, hopefully it'll be out in the next month or so.


End file.
